One of the second-round matches at the 2026 Madrid Open will feature 24th-seeded Leylah Fernandez taking on Julia Grabher. Fernandez got a bye in the first round, while Grabher overcame the challenge of a former world No. 2, Paula Badosa, in the first round, winning 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-0.
Match Details for Leylah Fernandez vs Julia Grabher
Date: April 23, 2026
Tournament: Madrid Open 2026
Round: Second Round (Round of 64)
Venue: La Caja Mágica, Madrid, Spain
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Category: WTA 1000
Live Telecast: Tennis Channel, Sky Sports, TSN
Fernandez vs Grabher Head-to-Head
Fernandez has won her two previous matches against Grabher, leading the head-to-head 2-0. The last time they played was at the Dubai Tennis Championships back in 2023, where the Canadian won 6-4, 6-2.
Fernandez has not started the season well; in her first 8 hard-court events this year, she has suffered 6 opening-round exits and won just one match at the other two events (Abu Dhabi and Miami). She started her clay-court campaign at Charleston, where she won her first match against Polina Kudermetova, but lost in the next round against Diana Shnaider. She had her first quarterfinal run in Stuttgart, where she won against the likes of Alexandra Eala and Zeynep Sonmez, before losing to the eventual champion, Elena Rybakina, in a tight three-set battle.
Including ITF and Challenger matches, Grabher has a 5-9 win-loss record this year. She has not made it past the second round at any of the Tour-level events or at any of the Challenger events. Barring her first-round win against Badosa, her only other Tour-level win came at the Australian Open, where she won against Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round but lost to Anna Kalinskaya in the second round.
Fernandez vs Grabher Prediction
Fernandez has yet to win a Tour-level title on clay, but the Canadian player has had some decent showings at Roland Garros. She reached the singles quarterfinals in 2022 and finished runner-up in doubles in 2023 with Taylor Townsend as her partner. Her best result in Madrid was a third-round run in 2024, where she lost to Ons Jabeur.
Grabher’s only Tour-level final came on clay, as she reached the final in Rabat back in 2023, but lost to Lucia Bronzetti. She has been successful on the dirt at the lower tiers, winning two clay-court Challenger titles and reaching 30 ITF Tour clay-court finals. This is the second time Grabher has played at the Madrid Open, following her 2023 appearance, when she lost to Iga Świątek in the second round.
The PFSN Simulator has given Fernandez an 87 percent win probability in the upcoming match, which is understandable given the gulf in quality between the Canadian player and her Austrian opponent.
Pick- Fernandez to win in straight sets
