From wildcard to champion: Dominant Leylah Fernandez wins Singapore tennis crown in style - The Business Times

[SINGAPORE] A fortnight ago, Leylah Fernandez had never been to Singapore in her life. 

The 24-year-old from Canada was not on the original list of players at the Singapore Tennis Open presented by BNP Paribas tournament. But she ended up accepting a main-draw wildcard entry just days before the US$1.2 million event began.

Few regarded her as the hot favourite, not with the likes of this year’s French Open winner Mirra Andreeva, defending champion Elise Mertens and South-east Asia’s top-ranked player Alexandra Eala in the mix.

Throughout the entire week of competition, however, Fernandez never seemed too bothered by all of that. 

She only dropped a single set in her five matches in the Lion City. She departs with her luggage a little heavier, thanks to the shiny trophy she received after downing Talia Gibson in the final on Sunday (Sep 27), her bank account a bit fatter with the winners’ cheque of US$185,500, and many positive memories of a brilliant week on the court.

The vast majority of the crowd at the OCBC Arena backed her all the way. Perhaps it was her Filipino heritage (her mother is of Filipino descent) or maybe it was just her very likeable personality that endeared her to the fans. And of course, her aggressive, all-court baseline style of play that made her such a joy to watch.

“I would like to thank all the Singaporean fans and the Pinoy fans who came to watch,” she said in a post-match interview after her impressive 7-5, 6-0 win over Gibson, which was notable for how she won nine consecutive games against the Australian.

“Not only my matches, but everybody’s matches. You guys made this week extremely special with all your encouragement, the energy and the positivity that you brought in everyone’s matches.”

At the age of 19, Fernandez burst onto the global tennis scene at the US Open in 2021, making it all the way to the final where she lost to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu in what was the first major final in the Open Era to feature two unseeded players.

Fernandez’s run to the showpiece match in New York was impressive as she defeated three players ranked in the top five along the way, including the defending champion Naomi Osaka.

The Singapore Tennis Open crown is the sixth title for Fernandez, with two others also having come in Asia – in Hong Kong in 2023, and the Japan Open in Osaka in 2025.

She is a two-time winner at the Monterrey Open in Mexico (in 2021 and 2022), and she won the Washington Open last year. In 2023, she helped Canada win the Billie Jean King Cup that was played in Spain.

She has been ranked as high as No 13 in the world in women’s singles in August 2022. Her Singapore breakthrough means that she is likely to move up five spots to No 26 this week.

Fernandez’s coach is none other than her father Jorge, who was sitting courtside and gave her a big bear hug at the end of the final on Sunday.

After dominating the second set against Gibson from start to finish, Fernandez was elated yet visibly relieved as she won her first title in nearly a year.

“Throughout the year, it’s been a lot of hard work in finding the right balance between attacking and defending,” she said. 

“Today, everything just kind of clicked in the right place at the right time. Playing in Singapore has been an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to come back and experience this level of love again.”

The Singapore Tennis Open was upgraded to a 500-level tournament this year, one level above the 250-level event held at the Kallang Tennis Hub in January 2025.

In a statement on Sunday, tournament organiser The Kallang Group said that this year’s attendance was more than double the figure from last year, with some 50,000 fans across nine days of action.

The tournament will return to Singapore in 2027 as part of a three-year deal with the WTA Tour, although a specific date has not been announced yet.

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