"We are keeping in contact": – Is Leylah Fernández Off the Market?

Canada’s Leylah Fernandez has opened up about her experience of going on a date for the first time in her life. The 22-year-old is a known face in the tennis world ever since playing the final of the US Open at the age of just 18 back in 2021.

Recently, Fernandez lifted her first title in two years after winning the DC Open. She defeated Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-2. After that, Fernandez was due to play in the Canadian Open in Montreal, but before featuring in the competition, she appeared in a video posted by the Tennis Channel on social media platform Instagram, where she expressed her desire to go on a date for the first time in her life.

“Hey guys, you know what I really want to do and I haven’t done? Is going on a date,” said Fernandez. “I am not a big fan of a dating app. So I am going to do it my way. I am going to go on one date, for one hour, in Montreal. If you want to be my date, send me a DM and tell me all about yourself and yea, see you there.”

Her journey at the Canadian Open turned out to be a disaster as she suffered a defeat in the first round to Australia’s Maya Joint in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-1. Despite that, her search for a first date continued. In an interview with Tennis.com, Fernandez shared how she received a lot of responses after expressing her desire to go on a date finally.

“There’ve been a lot of responses,” said Fernandez. “I think the first day, there were maybe over 100 messages. I’ve got a lot of options. I got responses from other athletes, including ones I went to the Olympics with. I’ve never been on one date before, so I just want to experience how it goes from there. We’re not going to think too much ahead. It’s also about getting to know each other, what his hobbies are and what he likes. He can ask me the same because, yeah, I’m a tennis player but that’s not all I am. It’s just about having a little conversation and seeing if there’s a mutual interest.”

Fernandez has now once again appeared in a Tennis Channel video where she spoke about her experience of going on her first day. She stated that she had a good time but revealed that she had a hard time figuring out the right candidate as most of the messages she received were from people who were outside the country. Fernandez is also still in contact with the guy, and the two have gone on a ‘second date’ as well.

“I had a good time with the guy,” she said. “He was funny, he is nice. It’s a little hard because a lot of guys who have been messaging me are international, so they were going to fly in. So I was like I am not going to do that to them. So I was giving it one more day and then stumbled upon him and his message kind of caught my attention. When I asked him did you even see my video? And he was like No, I didn’t. His first message caught my attention, and then afterwards stalked him to make sure that he’s real. He was a real person, seemed like a nice guy, and then got a couple of opinions from family and team members to make sure they were okay with it too. There has been a second date, and we are keeping in contact, so we will see.”