Aussie Maya Joint gets revenge as Leylah Fernandez hits out at broken ‘promises' for Canadian Open match

7NEWS

5 days ago

Australian teenager Maya Joint has brought in-form local hope Leylah Fernandez crashing back down to earth at the Canadian Open.
Fernandez, a former US Open finalist, collected the biggest title of her career on Sunday when she won the DC Open in Washington, thrashing Anna Kalinskaya 6-1 6-2 in the final.
But her return home in triumph did not last long, Joint beating the Quebec native 6-4 6-1 in Montreal on Tuesday afternoon.
It was quick revenge for Joint, who lost 6-3 6-3 to Fernandez in the first round in Washington.
But Fernandez was offside with tournament organisers in the aftermath, saying she had received 'a lot of promises' that the match would be scheduled for the night session.
She then learned on Sunday while travelling that she would miss out on the extra six hours of recovery time.
'I did not receive that,' she said of her night request.
'That hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but I guess it's a little bit political issues at that point.'
Americans Coco Gauff, the top seed, and Danielle Collins were given top billing for the night session instead of the home hero Fernandez.
Tournament director Valerie Tetreault responded to the criticism by revealing she promised Fernandez she would 'fight so that she could have the time she wanted'.
'But I didn't win my fight,' Tetreault said, noting that the WTA Tour determines scheduling.
'I received the request for her to play in the evening. It's my role to have conversations with the WTA, so I pushed as much as possible for her to have what she wanted.'
Tetreault added that exceptions had already been made for Fernandez.
The 22-year-old's match with Joint was among the final three first-round matches held until Tuesday, despite Fernandez's half of the bracket starting play on Sunday.
'WTA protocols mean first-round matches need to be completed before second-round matches are played, ensuring fairness to all players,' Tennis Canada said in a statement.
'Given Leylah won the title in Washington on Sunday, she was not able to arrive in Montreal until the early hours of Monday morning. As a result, the WTA made the decision to play her opening match in the latest possible first-round slot.'
While Fernandez rests up, Joint moves on to meet American 28th seed McCartney Kessler.
If she wins that match, next in line would be Mirra Andreeva, who is yet to play in Montreal having received a first-round bye then a walkover after Bianca Andreescu withdrew from their second-round match.
Joint-Andreeva would be in the Round of 32, a stage another Aussie has already reached.
Daria Kasatkina, the 15th seed, was given a bye in the first round and defeated Anna Blinkova 6-1 6-4 in the second.
Kasatkina next faces 24th seed Marta Kostyuk.