Leylah Fernandez produced one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 Canadian Open by defeating fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the third round on Friday, August 7. The Montréal native was overcome with emotion after the victory and celebrated with the Toronto crowd before delivering a heartfelt message in French to her home fans.
Fernandez also shared the moment with her father, Jorge, who serves as her coach alongside recently appointed Eric Hechtman.
Leylah Fernandez Ecstatic Amid Canadian Open Progress
After failing to defend her Mubadala DC Open title, Fernandez arrived in Toronto with renewed hope. Seeded 30th, she began her campaign in the second round in front of a packed evening crowd, who cheered her on to a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Renata Zarazúa on Wednesday.
The atmosphere was electric for Fernandez’s highly anticipated daytime clash against reigning French Open champion Mirra Andreeva on Friday. The Canadian produced a commanding display, racing to a 6-1, 5-1 lead before the 19-year-old mounted a late fightback. However, the comeback proved too little, too late, as the local sealed a 6-1, 6-4 victory to delight the home crowd.
“Oh, my goodness, it feels amazing. And especially doing it at home in front of an amazing crowd. Thank you so much for showing up, wow! I absolutely have no words,” she said during her on-court interview. “I just thought about staying in the present moment, calming my nerves down, and of course, using the crowd as energy, so again, thank you so much for helping me out today; it truly means a lot.”
Fernandez marked the victory with a special father-daughter handshake alongside her father before embracing her second coach, Hechtman.
Some wins mean a little more 🥹
After getting it done on Centre Court, Leylah shared a special moment with her dad 🫶 pic.twitter.com/Jzu81thNFP
— National Bank Open (@NBOtoronto) August 7, 2026
“And, of course, I’ve got to thank my coaching team. They did a great job in helping me in keeping calm and focusing on the task at hand. So just super happy that I was able to listen and execute for the most part,” the 2021 US Open finalist said.
Leylah Fernandez after beating Mirra Andreeva to reach Toronto R16
“Oh my goodness, it feels amazing. Especially doing it at home in front of an amazing crowd. Thank you so much for showing up. Wow. I absolutely have no words. Thank you so much for coming out and cheering me… pic.twitter.com/Wh8wNGxV0E
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 7, 2026
A couple of days earlier, Leylah Fernandez revealed that, before stepping onto the court for her opening match, her father had reminded her that she was the only Canadian player remaining in the men’s (Montréal) and women’s (Toronto) singles draws. She admitted that the revelation sparked a “little fire” that helped fuel her victory.
Through to the fourth round of the Canadian Open for the first time in her career, the 23-year-old would hope to continue the impressive run of form. She awaits the winner of the match between Naomi Osaka and Elise Mertens on Sunday.
