M. JOINT/L. Fernandez
6-4, 6-1
THE MODERATOR: Leylah, hard luck out there. Just give us your initial thoughts on the match.
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I have no thoughts (laughing). It's a tough match. I mean, Maya, she played an incredible game, very solid from the very beginning. I, unfortunately, did not. I guess that's my initial thoughts.
THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.
Q. I don't know if you can describe to us how you felt going onto the court and just how tired you were and maybe how difficult it was to find the energy after the short turnaround?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Oh, yeah, the short turnaround. I mean, we got promises -- oh, man. It felt great being on court, hearing the fans and feeling their support. It was awesome, and I mean awesome. I'm just disappointed with my level of play, and it wasn't fair for them. I mean, it was a very, very low level.
But I mean, regarding on the short turnaround, I received a lot of promises from the -- from scheduling about giving me maybe the night match, and I did not receive that. So that kind of hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but you know, I guess it's a little bit political issues at that point.
But other than that, again, the crowd was just amazing. I heard the emcee kind of cheering me on and also encouraging the crowd even more. That kind of warmed my heart. I never had that kind of energy before, and it was just an honor and a lot of fun, yeah.
Q. I know you already talked about the crowd and the energy, but can you talk about what it feels to play in your hometown of Montreal?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: It feels great. I mean, again, my level of play does not translate well what I was actually feeling because I was feeling so happy, and it was such, as I said, an honor to be back in Montreal and to play in front of the home crowd, to play in my hometown where everything started.
I mean, the way that I played today does not equate of what I felt pre-match and what it means to play Montreal.
Q. But do you think being here added a certain level of pressure almost, or it's not really --
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yes and no, but I mean, I've played here for the past couple of times in Montreal, and I've done fairly okay.
But I guess my level of play today could equate to the fatigue, the quick turnaround, I guess the added pressure that I put on myself. Not what the crowd did or that I'm playing at home, but it's that I added a little bit more pressure on myself. I guess, again, the fatigue, mental fatigue, didn't help and staying positive and finding solutions.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports