Leylah Fernandez pulls out of Hong Kong Open with shoulder injury

Leylah Fernandez has withdrawn from the 2026 Hong Kong Tennis Open with a shoulder injury, becoming the latest high-profile player to exit a tournament that players are calling a symptom of a “brutal” WTA schedule.

The 24-year-old Canadian was scheduled to face American Sofia Kenin in the first round on Wednesday, November 4.

Tournament organizers announced her withdrawal before the match.

Fernandez apologized to fans in a message shared by organizers: “I am sorry to the fans who come to watch me. I hope to be back next year and play in front of you again.”

Her exit came at the end of a punishing Asian swing that had lifted her back into the world’s top 20 for the first time in more than four years.

Fernandez reached the final of the Ningbo Open in China, where she lost to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.

A week later, she finished runner-up at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after falling to Russia’s Diana Shnaider on November 1.

Those performances helped her climb five places to world No. 18.

Fernandez, whose mother is Filipino-Canadian, won the Hong Kong women’s singles championship in 2023 and had been hoping to add another title.

Instead, British teenager Mika Stojsavljevic entered the draw as a lucky loser and defeated Kenin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round.

Tournament organizers confirmed the withdrawal was due to a shoulder injury but did not disclose its severity or expected recovery time.

Fernandez is not alone.

The tournament has seen a string of withdrawals, and players still in the draw are speaking openly about the toll the season has taken.

Claire Liu, who delivered a fine second-round performance on Victoria Park Tennis Stadium’s centre court to oust No. 8 seed Katie Boulter, called the schedule “brutal and gruelling.”

Liu also disclosed that she recently deleted her Instagram account because of hateful messages flooding her inbox “all the time, every day.”

On Tuesday, Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage received death threats after her Chennai Open first-round exit.

This week, Maria Sakkari told the South China Morning Post that “very problematic” people routinely target her with messages “wishing death to my family.”

Fernandez’s withdrawal comes at a moment when her game was reaching a new level.

Former world No. 1 and multiple Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters recently analyzed Fernandez’s improvement on the ‘Love All’ podcast.

“The first thing that stands out to me is her competitive mindset,” Clijsters said.

“What I admire a lot about her is how feisty she is and how she will compete for every shot. That is one of the reasons why she has been able to be competing, a few years ago, for a Grand Slam title.”

Clijsters noted a tactical shift: “I think she has moved up into the court. She is standing closer to the baseline, which is a lot easier said than done, because you have to be fast enough and fit enough to be able to do that every shot.”

Clijsters also recalled an exhibition match against Fernandez in 2022 in Orlando, Florida, which Clijsters won 7-5.

“There are a few things that I really like about her,” Clijsters said.

“A lot of it is the same pace, and she is so good at that, but to be able to finish off a rally or to be able to hit a serve and then produce more power on the second shot to put her opponent under pressure more, it’s what she misses a little bit. That means that she has to work so hard to win her matches.”

Fernandez had played some of the best tennis of her career at the end of the 2026 WTA season.

She won the Singapore Tennis Open right after the US Open, then reached two finals in Ningbo and Tokyo.