WASHINGTON, July 27, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

It’s been a year since Canada’s Leylah Fernandez won the biggest tournament of her career at the Mubadala DC Open in the nation’s capital city of Washington, D.C. While a lot can change over the course of 12 months, win or lose, the personable Canadian is here to enjoy her time and build upon her past success.

The 23-year-old from Montreal, who now resides and trains in Boynton Beach, Fla., has returned to defend her WTA 500 title and kicked off opening day play Monday at H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park, a few miles north of the National Mall, under sunny and pleasant skies and a temperature of 82º Fahrenheit (28º Celsius) at the start of play.

The seventh-seeded Fernandez, now ranked 34th in the latest PIF WTA Rankings, took on No. 65 Magda Linette of Poland, whom the 5-foot-6-inch Canadian lefty had beaten two times in three previous tour-level meetings – all on clay.

Through in 2 👊

Defending champ @leylahfernandez defeats Linette 6-1, 6-4 to kick off her title defense in DC!#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/e5hAlcl5wa

— Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 27, 2026

As it happened, Fernandez ran her DC Open winning streak to six straight with her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Linette in one hour and 19 minutes to advance to the second round. After aggressively racing to a double-break 4-0 lead to start the first-round encounter, Fernandez never let up and maintained a pretty solid focus throughout both sets – even when she was broken for the only time as she was serving for the match, ahead 6-1, 5-3. However, Fernandez quickly refocused and broke Linette in the final game and victory was hers to enjoy.

Fernandez won 74 percent (23 of 31) of her first-serve points, saved all but one of three break points she faced, converted five of nine break-point opportunities and outpointed Linette 63-41, who was dealt her fifth-straight defeat. 

“Happy to be back in D.C. There are so many good memories, and hopefully I can continue with some good vibes here and enjoy my time on court,” Fernandez said as she engaged with media during her pre-tournament news conference over the weekend. 

“I definitely think back on those memories, on those feelings, the positive feelings, the fight, the energy that the crowd brought,” said Fernandez, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, this year’s No. 5 seed, in the 2025 DC Open title match. “So, you know, I try to use that to my advantage and try to go back into that state, and hopefully I can reproduce that here.

“But I do know that one year is a long time, so a lot can change. I’m just going to try to go out there with the mindset of figuring things out and enjoy my time competing in D.C. where I’ve had some good success here.”

Picking up where she left off 💪

Defending champion @leylahfernandez defeats Linette 6-1, 6-4 in Washington, DC!#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/7olabZbryU

— wta (@WTA) July 27, 2026

This season, Fernandez, a winner of five career WTA Tour titles and whose highest ranking was World No. 13 in August 2022, has struggled to find the consistency and confidence she enjoyed last year. She’s endured 10 opening-round losses, including at all three majors. Most recently, she fell in the opening round at Wimbledon to Janice Tjen of Indonesia. Currently, 13-18 in tour-level events, her best finishes have come on clay, when she reached the quarterfinals at Stuttgart, Madrid and Strasbourg. Among Fernandez’s wins, she beat Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey in Stuttgart; Iva Jovic and Ann Li of the United States in Madrid; and Magdalena Frech of Poland in Strasbourg. Her losses at each of those events were to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, Mirra Andreeva of Russia and Victoria Mboko of Canada, all ranked ahead of her.

In 2025, Fernandez, accumulated a 33-24 win-loss record, which included quarterfinal runs in Abu Dhabi and Nottingham as well as winning the DC Open title, in which she strung together impressive wins over Maya Joint of Australia, top seed Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend of the United States, No. 3 seed Rybakina and Kalinskaya.

“It’s tough when the beginning of the season doesn’t go the way that you want it to go, but I try to kind of take it day by day and enjoy the process, the hard work, the hours on court, trying to find the positives in things,” admitted Fernandez, who arrived this week at the start of the North American hard-court season leading up to next month’s US Open with a career win-loss record of 243-172.

“For myself here this year, it’s just to take it one match at a time, and you know, hopefully the results will come in D.C. and the tennis and my tactics can all work in my favor.”

Rewind ⏮️ Washington D.C. 2025 Finals

Before match play kicks off, relive the magical moment where @leylahfernandez claimed her 🏆 in D.C.#DCOpen pic.twitter.com/E7zZRh4LjX

— wta (@WTA) July 26, 2026

Fernandez’s road to a successful title defense this week could include three challenging matches, one round after another: a second-round match-up with either Eala or wild card Zheng Qinwen of China, followed by a quarterfinal meeting with World No. 10 and second seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and a semifinal showdown with World No. 13 and third seed Naomi Osaka of Japan. 

Fernandez, who is making her third appearance at Rock Creek Park, was asked by a reporter what she remembered that went right for her in winning last year’s Washington title – and can it happen again?

“I think the biggest thing that worked for me was just a lot of acceptance and enjoying my time on court,” she said. “I mean, it was hot, humid. A lot of players were coming in in good form. So, you know, the points won and the points lost that would go my way, I would just accept it quickly and then enjoy the competition.

“If I go out there with the right attitude, it goes well. So hopefully I can do that and recreate that this year.”

Leylah looks back on her 2025 win 🏆#MubadalaDCOpen | @leylahfernandez pic.twitter.com/mLXHwsKE39

— Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 27, 2026

Around the Mubadala DC Open

• Jack Draper of Great Britain withdrew from the tournament Monday after, citing an ongoing left arm injury that has sidelined him for much of the 2026 season. He will be replaced in the men’s singles draw by lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald of the United States. McDonald will face fellow American Alex Michelsen.

• The Mubadala DC Open has always provided a friendly environment to showcase men’s and women’s doubles. In recent years, matches with big-name teams such as brothers Andy Murray and Jamie Murray, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe have been given featured times on show courts. 

On Monday, a total of eight doubles matches – four men’s and four women’s – were on the Opening Day order of play, including Venus Williams and Diana Shnaider teaming together on John Harris Court. 

Both of the men’s top seeds – No. 1 Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy and No. 2 Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain were also in action. 

A team of rising singles stars – Rafael Jodar of Spain and Brandon Nakashima of the United States – took on Austin Krajicek of the United States and Nikola Mektic of Croatia.

Later this week in the men’s draw, Kyrgios and Tiafoe are teaming this year and no doubt will draw plenty of fan interest.

Reunited 🙌 @FTiafoe & @NickKyrgios are teaming up again in DC!#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/DiabBhNGFp

— Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 21, 2026

• Making its debut at the Mubadala DC Open this year, The Front Porch is welcoming fans as a new gathering place at a new main tournament fan entrance. Created by transforming a tennis court into an inviting open-air space, The Front Porch features a large LED screen streaming live matches, comfortable seating, live music, and a food-and-drink lineup from local establishments like Silver and Sons BBQ, Balos Estiatorio, and Ice Cream Jubilee. Open to all attendees, this new fan hub provides a place to relax, refuel, connect and enjoy the tournament atmosphere throughout the day.

On Monday, Naomi Osaka hosted a one-hour informal fan gathering, “The Cookout: DC Edition,” in which the tournament provided a free meal and a drink for the first 50 guests.

“Quotable …”

“I mean, it’s tough, because I knew how competitive she was and how much she loves winning and hates losing. So, you know, I knew about that, and I knew, like, I was stressed, I was nervous.

“What I didn’t know is how good she was to calm me down. It was kind of just a simple question of, ‘How are you?’ like just starting a conversation. She made it seem like it was just another day, another practice, going on court to play, to enjoy. Then during changeovers, it would be we wouldn’t talk too much tactic, but more intentions.

“So, it was interesting to see, like, that mindset, that champion’s mindset, legend, where they don’t overthink too much, but they trust themselves enough to say, yeah, if I hit down the line with the right intention, the ball is going to go in. There’s no doubt about that. Even if they miss, the next one is going to go in.

“So, it was pretty cool to experience that over the last year during the tournament, and then this year seeing her off court, it hasn’t changed. I’m pretty sure that’s how she was when she was younger, too, when she first started on tour. So, it was fun.”

– Defending champion Leylah Fernandez, during her pre-tournament news conference, on her quarterfinal run experience playing doubles with Venus Williams at last year’s US Open.