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

By Canadian Press on February 3, 2026.

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.

The Canadian Press

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