"We had some bad news today but thank you so much for all the support" - An emotional Leylah Fernandez mourns deceased family member following Pan Pacific Open final defeat

It was an emotional end to the Pan Pacific Open for Leylah Fernandez, whose mind was not on tennis after losing a second consecutive final in what is becoming a very productive Asian swing. Diana Shnaider claimed the spoils in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory, but a recent personal loss for the Canadian was highlighted in their speeches afterwards.

It was a third final in this year's Asian swing for Fernandez who was coming into a purple patch of form. She won the Singapore Open title but lost last time out at the Ningbo Open against Elena Rybakina. With her earlier withdrawal, that helped Fernandez blast through the rounds with Shnaider her final opponent.

The Russian took an early lead in the first set, resisting a late Fernandez comeback to seal the set. She then stormed into a 4-0 advantage and looked almost certain to win the match from this point. The former US Open finalist had other ideas, winning seven of the next eight games in a terrific turnaround to keep herself in contention.

After taking a 2-1 lead on serve, Fernandez's title quest came crumbling down. Shnaider restored parity before winning the remaining four games while dropping just five points. It was her first WTA title in 2026, and after the match she was extremely happy to get over the line while complimentary of her defeated finalist opponent.

“Firstly, I would like to congratulate Leylah on an amazing week, last week, some great achievements through this Asia Swing. Congrats to you, your coach, and your family back home. Keep going and for sure hope to see you more in the finals like this in the future.

“I also want to say thanks to and congratulate my coach (Sascha Bajin), who is here with me to achieve our first title this season. It means definitely a lot, so definitely a great achievement and a great finish to the season. I want to also say huge thanks to my family who is watching at home and also super happy.”

Fernandez spoke first, congratulating the 22-year-old on a fine week in the Japanese capital while noting the hard work her team have put in around her to make this positive recent form occur. “First of all I would like to congratulate Diana. An amazing week, a great match. Congratulations to you and your team. Hopefully we can have many more battles like this one,” she said.

“Second, I would like to thank my coach Eric, who is here. Thank you so much for being here this week and last. We just got to keep going. I want to thank my team who are back home watching. Without your guys’ support this wouldn’t be possible so thank you for always believing in me.”

However, her speech would end on a sombre note. That morning, she got some really tragic personal news that made her extremely emotional as she shared a special tribute to her late grandfather as her family mourned on the other side of the world.

“Lastly I just want to thank my family who are back home," she stated. "We had some bad news today but thank you so much for all the support, all the messages, it really means a lot. And Lolo, I know you are looking down on us so thank you for always being strong and supporting us. I know you are going to take care of us from above, so thank you.”

It puts a sad note on what has been a brilliant period of form for Fernandez, who left it late in 2026 to really get her season up and running. She is set to climb to World No.19 with a deserved top 20 return very much on the agenda.

There is also time to improve this figure, as she is set to embark on the Hong Kong Open. However, with this personal news and the amount of tennis she has played in recent times, there may be second thoughts on this. The 2023 champion has been drawn against former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round.