Leylah heartbroken, refocused
Leylah Fernandez said she was “heartbroken” after a tough Miami Open doubles loss while partnered with Venus Williams — Venus reportedly offered supportive words that Fernandez called out publicly as she resets for the clay swing. Fernandez is seeded at the Charleston Open and slated to face Diana Shnaider next as she tries to regroup. (sportskeeda.com) (sportskeeda.com)
Fernandez and Venus lost their Miami Open doubles match 3-6, 6-3, [13-11] to Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe in the Round of 32 on March 23, 2026, per the WTA match scoreboard. (wtatennis.com) WTA video and match reports show Muhammad/Routliffe saved six match points after Fernandez and Williams held a 9-4 lead in the deciding match tiebreak. (wtatennis.com) Post-match coverage and match recaps noted Fernandez committed several late unforced errors on volleys while closing the tiebreak, a sequence match reporters flagged as decisive in the 13-11 finish. (tennisuptodate.com) Fernandez said Venus told her, “you played great, just to keep going, keep forward…If we all had a time machine, we would use it, but we don't, so just keep moving forward,” and Fernandez credited that message with helping her reset at Charleston during a post-match press exchange. (sportskeeda.com) On April 1, 2026 Fernandez opened her Charleston singles campaign with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over qualifier Polina Kudermetova, according to the tournament’s official post-match transcript. (creditonecharlestonopen.com) The Credit One Charleston Open is a WTA 500 event with a $2.3 million commitment, and Fernandez’s current WTA singles ranking is listed at No. 24 on the tour player pages. (wtatennis.com ) (wtatennis.com) Bookmakers opened the Head-to-Head for her next Charleston match with Diana Shnaider favoring Shnaider around -210 while listing Fernandez near +160 for the Round of 16 meeting on April 2, 2026. (sportsbookwire.usatoday.com) Fernandez also contested Charleston doubles with Kristina Mladenovic and the pair were edged 6-7(2), 6-2, 9-11 by Anna Bondár and Magdalena Fręch on April 1, 2026, according to live stats and match logs. (eurosport.es )
