Maya Joint acquires revenge in Montreal as 'hurt' opponent fumes at 'political issues'

Maya Joint and Leylah Fernandez shake hands at the net. (Getty/Minas Panagiotakis)

There are no signs of slowing down for Australia's Maya Joint in 2025 after taking out local fan favourite Leylah Fernandez in Montreal.

Joint, 19, ran away with the contest in a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory on Centre Court — securing her passage into the second round at the WTA 1000 tournament.

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It marks her second-ever win at WTA 1000 level and fourth top 50 scalp.

Up to 43rd in the live rankings, Joint lost to Fernandez eight days ago at the Washington Open in straight sets.

Given Fernandez's quick 48-hour turnaround having won the Washington final, the defeat wasn't surprising.

But the 22-year-old, who was born in Montreal, expected better treatment from the tournament organisers to accomodate her lack of preparation.

Quizzed about it after the match, tournament director Valerie Tetreault assured Fernandez personally that she would do her utmost best to allow the former US Open finalist to "have the time she wanted".

"That hurt me because I was very looking forward to be playing at night, but I guess it's a little bit political issues at that point," Fernandez mentioned.

Up next for Joint is 28th seed McCartney Kessler.

Meanwhile, Daria Kasatkina notched her first win of the North American hard-court swing, taking down Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-4.

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