Leylah Annie Fernandez planned to celebrate the biggest win of her season with some junk food.
“I’m going to be eating a burger,” she told TSN after upsetting Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva on Friday to advance to the round-of-16 at the National Bank Open in Toronto. “That’s what I’m going to be doing. I’m going to eat a burger, a poutine, get back all the calories I’ve lost on court and just relax at the end of the night.”
How does the Montreal native find Toronto poutine?
“Toronto poutine is great,” the 23-year-old said with a smile. “I mean, poutine is poutine. Well, not exactly, but I haven’t had a poutine in so long so any poutine is good for me.”
Friday’s victory is one to savour for Fernandez, who has not felt this good on the match court in a long time.
“It’s been a while,” she admits. “I mean, I kind of felt that a little bit in the beginning of the clay [season] this year. I was playing really well and then it was a little dip. It just feels good to get into that momentum and just executing the game plan, listening to my coaches, and trusting in myself.”
Fernandez, who is seeded No. 30, came out flying at Sobeys Stadium against the No. 5 seed Andreeva. She built an early lead and fended off a late push to win 6-1, 6-4.
Fellow Canadian Bianca Andreescu caught the end of the win by Fernandez after getting off court from her doubles match.
“She killed it,” said Andreescu, who lifted the Toronto trophy in 2019. “She’s fearless. Like, when she’s on, she’s on and she can beat anybody.”
But Fernandez has not been on her game for much of the season. The 5-foot-6 lefty arrived in Toronto with a 13-20 record, including first-round losses at all three Grand Slam events.
Friday’s victory over Andreeva was her first against a top-10 opponent since July 2025 when she ousted No. 4 Jessica Pegula en route to the title in Washington.
Fernandez, who got a bye in the first round, beat Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-2, 6-2 in her opening match on Wednesday night. This is the first time since a run to the quarterfinals in Strasbourg in May that she’s won consecutive matches.
Fernandez may be benefitting from a new coach bump. This is her second tournament with Eric Hechtman, who previously worked with the Williams sisters, in her box.
“She was tough, man,” Hechtman said after Friday’s win. “I told her the main thing was to work every single point and mix it up with coming to the net and she did. She’s a helluva athlete and she showed it.”
Fernandez is also coached by her dad, Jorge, who has been advising his daughter to approach the net more for some time. A new voice is providing an extra push.
“It’s kind of an extra confidence in me, in my game,” Fernandez said of Hechtman’s early impact. “Like, he doesn’t try to change my game, just trying to kind of add to it and make me believe in it a little bit more, especially in tight moments. I mean, sometimes, like the past few years with my dad, we have been practising going to the net. And now, like, I know I can do it. Now we just got set plays, and Eric is able to kind of tell me when is the right moment to use them.”
“A lot of people think coming to the net is about size,” Hechtman said. “To me it’s about speed and Leylah’s one of the fastest players out there. So, the more ways we can use her athleticism, the better she’s going to be out there.”
On Sunday night, Fernandez will face No. 11 seed Naomi Osaka. The pair have split two career meetings with Osaka winning in Wuhan last year and Fernandez triumphing at the 2021 US Open, which was part of her magical run to the championship match in New York.
The pair just practised together at the previous WTA event in Washington.
“Truthfully, I played really bad,” the 28-year-old Japanese star said with a laugh. “So I hope maybe she thinks that I’ll play that bad, and she will be caught off guard ... I’m the type of person that I don’t really care about practice, really. So I’m not really out there, like, swinging fully or anything like that. But it was good to play her because there’s not that many lefties on tour.”
Osaka, who dispatched No. 20 seed Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-2 on Friday, is hoping the recent exposure to Fernandez’s lefty game will allow for a quick adjustment on Sunday. Both of their previous matches went three sets.
“She has a really good attitude,” Osaka said of Fernandez. “I’ve never seen her down. She always keeps fighting. I really appreciate that about her.”
And Fernandez has even more fighting spirit when playing in front of Canadian fans.
“I actually have so much motivation this week,” she said. “Not only because I’m playing here in Canada, but also because the crowd has just been super amazing. They motivate me so much in fighting and keeping disciplined and putting on a good show.”
