In a disappointing turn of events, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez faced an early exit from the French Open, succumbing to Alycia Parks of the United States in the first round with a score of 6-4, 6-4 on Monday.
The 24th seed in the women’s draw at Roland Garros, Fernandez experienced a challenging match, getting broken four times out of nine break-point opportunities and racking up seven double-faults.
Parks, on the other hand, battled her own inconsistency, landing just 49.2 percent of her first serves in play. However, she countered this by clinching 60 percent of the points on her second serve.
At 23 years old and hailing from Laval, Quebec, Fernandez has now been ousted in the first round at the clay-court Grand Slam for the second consecutive year. Her standout performance at Roland Garros came in 2022, when she advanced all the way to the quarterfinals.
This match marked the second time Parks triumphed over Fernandez in a Grand Slam, following her victory in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open. Fernandez had previously bested Parks in their only other encounter during the 2025 Miami Open.
The remaining Canadian contenders in the French Open singles draws were poised to begin their matches on Tuesday. Men’s fourth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime from Montreal was set to battle Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill faced Portugal’s Jaime Faria, and women’s ninth seed Victoria Mboko of Burlington was ready to take on Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova.
