Leylah Fernandez Fights Back Tears as She Addresses Filipino Fans After Singapore Win

Leylah Fernandez‘s Singapore Open campaign got off to a strong start against Kyoka Okamura. She secured a 6-2, 6-3 victory to book her place in the Round of 16. Hundreds of her fans had flocked to Centre Court to support her, and not all of them came from Singapore.

Turns out that there were many Filipinos in the stands as well. Fernandez has Filipino roots through her mother and has often received support from the fans. She noticed that there were a lot of Filipinos present in the crowd during the match and was almost in tears as she addressed them after the match.

“I’m just glad to be playing in front of you guys,” she said in her post-match interview. “The Singaporean fans, and I know there’s a lot of Pinoy fans here. There we go. So, Salamat for all the support. It truly means a lot to me.”

Fernandez was awarded a wildcard to play at the Singapore Open. This is her first-ever appearance in the tournament, and she would want to make a deep run in the WTA 500 event. While the scoreline may make it look like Fernandez dominated the match, the story on the court wasn’t quite the same.

Okamura delivered a gutsy effort and didn’t go down easily. She broke Fernandez’s serve on two occasions and created a total of 13 break-point opportunities during the match. She even saved two match points in the seventh game of the second set, but Fernandez eventually finished off the match in straight sets.

WTA, Tennis Damen Masters 1000 National Bank Open Toronto 2026 – Round of 16 – Day 9 Leylah Fernandez of Canada plays a backhand during the Womens Singles Round of 16 match against Naomi Osaka of Japan on day 9 of the WTA Masters 1000 National Bank Open at Sobeys Stadium on August 9, 2026, in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Leonardo Ramirez / Eyepix Group Copyright: xLeonardoxRamirezx/xEyepixxGroupx LR_09082026_09607

The serve was Okamura’s weakest part of the game. She had her serve broken on five occasions, and Fernandez created 22 break-point opportunities during the encounter. Despite Okamura’s gritty performance, the Canadian clearly proved to be the better player on the court. She will be meeting Alycia Parks in the next match.

The H2H record doesn’t quite favor Fernandez, as Parks leads 2-1. The two had met earlier this year at the French Open, and the American had triumphed 6-4, 6-4. Though Parks may have the H2H advantage, she will most likely not have the crowd on her side during the match. This could benefit Fernandez and can help her maintain composure even when things aren’t going her way during the match.

Despite representing Canada, Fernandez is a very popular player in Southeast Asia. Philippines is one of the countries in particular where she has a massive following. She also shares a great friendship with Alexandra Eala, who has emerged as the most successful Filipino player of the modern era. Fernandez only had kind words to share for Eala before the Singapore Open.

Leylah Fernandez heaped praise on Alexandra Eala ahead of the Singapore Open

“Alex (Eala) is such an amazing player, and most importantly, such an amazing person,” she said in the pre-tournament press conference. “She’s super kind, super humble. She always has a smile on her face.”

Fernandez also hailed the Filipino fans for being very supportive of the players and was thankful to them for flocking to courts all around the world to watch her matches.

“I know getting on tour, the Filipino community are super supportive of their players, and I felt that welcome when I came on tour. Wherever I was around the world there was always a beautiful crowd that was supporting me, and to have Alex there too really shows how much the Filipino community loves to support one of their own. So it’s really nice,” she added.

Just like Fernandez, Eala has also received massive support from Filipinos in recent times. The tickets to her matches are mostly sold out, with many Filipinos always present in the crowd.

The ticket prices for her matches have also soared high and a great example of that was seen at the US Open. It is likely that a huge Filipino crowd will be watching from the stands as Eala takes on Tatiana Prozorova in the Round of 16 at the Singapore Open.

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