‘Just a Little’ – Leylah Fernandez Reacts to Strange Run at Queen’s Club After Collecting Runner-Up Plate

Leylah Fernandez has had an unusual start to her grass swing. The Canadian, who opened her campaign at the WTA 500 event at Queen’s Club, was knocked out of singles in the opening round. She, however, reached the final in doubles alongside her partner, Germany’s Laura Siegemund.

It was a peculiar doubles campaign for the pair, who ended up playing only two matches during the tournament. A day after their Sunday final, Fernandez briefly reflected on her week at Queen’s Club.

Leylah Fernandez Revisits Her Queen’s Club Run

Fernandez, seeded sixth in singles, suffered a first-round upset against local favorite Katie Boulter, who staged a 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 comeback. The Canadian wasn’t done at the tournament, though. She had entered doubles with Siegemund, marking their first on-court collaboration.

The day following her singles loss, Fernandez and Siegemund secured their opening win against Alexandra Panova and Demi Shuurs. Notably, they saved a match point en route to the 6-2, 2-6, (11-9) victory on June 9.

In the quarterfinal on Thursday, June 11, the pair was scheduled to face Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko. They, however, received a direct entry to the semifinals when Mboko was forced to withdraw after sustaining a knee injury.

Fernandez and Siegemund then set up a clash with the all-American pair of Iva Jovic and McCartney Kessler on Friday. But their clash was postponed to Saturday at the rain-hit event. On Saturday, in addition to her doubles match, Jovic was also scheduled to face Emma Raducanu in the singles semifinal. Meanwhile, the doubles semifinal was slated to begin only after she had been given adequate time to recover between matches.

She, however, pulled out of the contest after injuring her left foot during her 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Raducanu, helping Fernandez and Siegemund secure a place in the final without competing. Fernandez looked back on the strange turn of events while sharing pictures on her latest Instagram post.

“Grass season has officially started. Honored to play at Queens (just a little),” she joked.

The Canadian star expressed optimism about her campaign on the surface while making a hilarious FIFA World Cup mention. “Feeling ready to play on grass… and no, not the World Cup.”

Fernandez and Siegemund lost their final against Tereza Mihalíková and Olivia Nicholls 6-3, 6-7(4), (10-5). “Thank you, Laura, for playing dubs with me this week. Thank you to the fans for showing up and watching all of our matches,” she said after the tournament.

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Leylah Fernandez will now shift her focus to the WTA 250 Nottingham Open. She is the second seed in singles and begins her campaign against Zeynep Sönmez on June 16. In doubles, the 23-year-old is partnering Yuliia Starodubtseva. They face Eri Hozumi and Wu Fang-Hsein in the Round of 16.