Leylah Fernandez’s Osaka win is a triumph — but also a reminder

There was a sense of inevitability about Leylah Fernandez’s victory in Osaka. And yet, it also raised familiar questions about where her game goes from here.

On Sunday, the 23-year-old Canadian claimed her fifth career title and second of 2025 by defeating 18-year-old Tereza Valentova 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the Kinoshita Group Japan Open final. It was Fernandez’s first title in Japan and a performance that captured both her brilliance and her unpredictability.

I’ve watched Fernandez for years now, ever since her breakout run to the U.S. Open final. What continues to fascinate me is her ability to oscillate between control and chaos. And somehow still find a way to win.

Against Valentova, she opened the match like a player possessed, winning the first eight points and sprinting through the opening set in under half an hour.

The teenager, playing her first WTA final, looked overwhelmed. But to her credit, Valentova steadied herself in the second set, breaking Fernandez three times and forcing a decider that felt far more competitive than anyone anticipated after the early rout.

That’s when experience took over.

At 2-1 in the third, Fernandez pounced on a second serve, ripping a cross-court backhand and following it with a down-the-line winner to earn the decisive break.

Valentova refused to fold, breaking once more and earning chances to draw level, but Fernandez held firm to close it out in just over two hours. When it ended, she bowed to the Osaka crowd and offered gratitude that felt both genuine and earned.

“First of all, congratulations Tereza,” Fernandez said during the trophy ceremony. “You played amazing… I’m sure I’m going to see you in many more finals like this one.”

She went on to thank her father and coach, her hitting partner, and her family. A familiar refrain from a player whose team has been with her through both the peaks and the droughts.

That drought, though, is part of the story too.

Before Osaka, Fernandez hadn’t won back-to-back matches since her title run in Washington, D.C., in July. Between those two triumphs, she managed just four wins across six tournaments — a reminder that her talent still exceeds her consistency.

Even this season’s success comes with context. Two titles, yes, but both at smaller-tier events. Her career high remains No. 13, achieved in 2022; the Osaka win bumps her back up to No. 22 and reclaims her spot as Canada’s No. 1, yet the top 10 still feels tantalizingly out of reach.

That doesn’t diminish what she’s done this year.

Fernandez has beaten elite players. Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina among them. And she’s done it on hard courts, the surface on which all five of her titles have come.

What’s missing is rhythm, that steady week-to-week quality that separates champions from contenders. At times, she seems a single adjustment away from breaking through; at others, a single lapse away from spiraling out.

Watching her in Osaka, though, I saw something reassuring. A poise under pressure.

Leylah leaves Japan with another trophy and a ranking boost. But more importantly, she leaves with momentum. Something she hasn’t had in a while. Whether she can turn that spark into sustained fire in 2026 will determine if this is just another high point, or the start of something greater.