Leylah Fernandez, a former finallist at the US Open, bowed out of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany with her head held high.
In a fierce contest with Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No. 1 seed at the grass court event, Fernandez showed remarkable fight and determination. However, she went down in two closely contested tie-break sets 6-7 (8-10), 6-7 (6-8). The remarkable contest saw each player winning the same number of points – 103.
Having lost to Fernandez in their first three meetings, the Italian has now won the last two in a row. After her defeat, Fernandez asserted that her focus has shifted towards putting up a strong showing at Wimbledon.
Leylah Fernandez Eyes Wimbledon After Feeling Out the Grass at Tune-up Events
Fernandez has expressed optimism despite the heartbreaking loss to Jasmine Paolini in the last-eight stage of the Bad Homburg Open. The Canadian tennis star took to Instagram to reveal her priority after crashing out of the grass court tournament.
“Spent the last few weeks feeling out the grass,” the Canadian star captioned a picture of herself at Bad Homburg. “And now I’m ready to head to London for the main event (Wimbledon),” she added.
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After crashing out in the first round of the French Open, Fernandez entered a number of grass events to find her footing on the surface ahead of Wimbledon.
Her first grass event was at the HSBC Championships in London, where she was taken out by German Tatjana Maria in the first round. Following the disappointing result, she travelled to Nottingham, where she hit fine form to make it through to the quarterfinals. Fernandez, who was seeded fifth at the WTA 250 event, was ousted by Dayana Yastremska.
Fernandez took revenge against Maria in the first round match at Bad Homburg, defeating the German comprehensively 6-0, 7-6 (7-1).
The 22-year-old Fernandez has struggled to find her best form ever since she burst onto the scene at the 2021 US Open, making it to the final. Following her unexpected rise to stardom, Fernandez has admitted to being under more pressure
“Pre-US Open there was pressure, but not like there is now,” the Canadian star told wtatennis.com earlier this year. “It’s been very difficult.”
She continued, “I have high goals, high objectives and that pushes me. And when I don’t accomplish those goals, I get angry with myself. Unfortunately, I also get angry at my team.”
Nevertheless, she has shown enough consistency to be ranked within the top 30 of women’s tennis.
How Leylah Fernandez Has Fared in the 2025 Tennis Season
Fernandez has had a mixed bag of results during the 2025 tennis season. At the Australian Open, Coco Gauff halted her run in the third round.
She did make the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi and the Round of 16 in Qatar, but struggled during the entirety of the clay season.
Fernandez’s last tournament victory on the WTA Tour came at the Hong Kong Open in 2023.
