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Canada’s Fernandez loses to Kessler in second round of Abu Dhabi Open

Canada's Fernandez loses to Kessler in second round of Abu Dhabi Open | iNFOnews.ca
Leylah Fernandez of Canada plays a forehand return to Janice Tjen of Indonesia during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

ABU DHABI — Canada’s Leylah Fernandez was eliminated in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Open tennis tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to McCartney Kessler on Tuesday.

Fernandez, who was seeded sixth at the WTA 500 hard court tournament, was broken five times on 10 chances while only converting one of her six break points.

The 23-year-old from Laval, Que., struggled on serve and hit into eight double-faults.

Fernandez picked up her only win of the season so far when she defeated Chloé Paquet 6-0, 6-3 in the first round at Abu Dhabi.

She lost her first-round match at the Australian Open last month in Melbourne, as well as her opener in warm-up tournaments in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Also Tuesday, Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic of France fell 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and Janice Tjen of Indonesia in a first-round doubles match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2026.

Canada's Fernandez loses to Kessler in second round of Abu Dhabi Open | iNFOnews.ca
Leylah Fernandez of Canada plays a backhand return to Coco Gauff of the United States during a women’s singles match of the China Open tennis tournament, at the National Tennis Center, in Beijing, China, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

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The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is Canada's trusted news source and leader in providing real-time, bilingual multimedia stories across print, broadcast and digital platforms.

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