Leylah Fernandez’s run in the singles event at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the 2026 Australian Open, did not start well. She lost in the first round, but after her defeat, the Canadian athlete shared an optimistic message on social media.
Last year, Fernandez recorded her best result at the Melbourne Major, defeating Yuliia Starodubtseva and Cristina Bucșa in the first and second rounds, respectively, before losing to Coco Gauff in the third round.
Leylah Fernandez Looking Towards Other Events at Australian Open After 1R Loss in Singles
At the 2026 Australian Open, Fernandez was seeded 22nd but lost to Janice Tjen with a scoreline of 6-2, 7-6(1) in the first round. Following her loss to the Indonesian, the former World No. 13 took to social media and posted a series of pictures from the match, expressing that she will “keep working.”
Fernandez also stated that she will next focus on competing in doubles and mixed doubles events at the Grand Slam tournament, mentioning that she is not finished competing at the Melbourne Major.
“Keep working, always. Focus shifting to doubles & mixed now. I’m not done here,” Fernandez captioned her Instagram post.
In the doubles event at the 2026 Australian Open, Fernandez partnered with TÃmea Babos. They faced the ninth-seeded duo of Cristina BucÈ™a and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round and lost with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-4, 3-6.
Looking ahead, Fernandez is set to compete in the mixed doubles event alongside Nick Kyrgios, having received a wildcard entry into the main draw. They will face Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski in the first round, and the winner will advance to meet either the seventh-seeded duo of Olivia Nicholls and Henry Patten or the pair of Anna Danilina and James Tracy in the second round.
Before the 2026 Australian Open, Fernandez participated in two tournaments: the 2026 Brisbane International and the Adelaide International. In Brisbane, she was the 13th seed and began her campaign in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round. She lost to Dayana Yastremska in her opening match.
Then in Adelaide, the former World No. 13 faced a difficult start in singles, losing in the first round to Diana Shnaider. In the doubles event, she teamed up with Babos, and they won against Sofia Kenin and Laura Siegemund in the first round. Their run ended when they were defeated by the eventual champions, the second-seeded duo of Kateřina Siniaková and Zhang Shuai, in the quarterfinals.
