It marks the second time in the space of a week that Fernandez has come up short in an Asian final. She was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by Elina Rybakina in the Ningbo Open in China last weekend.

While clearly going through a difficult time in Tokyo, Fernandez maintained her composure to praise Shnaider for her win before opening up about a difficult period for her family.

“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.”

“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.”

Fans and heartbroken viewers took to social media to show the former US Open finalist support. "Leylah Fernandez not taking the Championship loss in Tokyo very well at all. This breaks my heart to see," one fan wrote. Another said: "Leylah, stop crying please," accompanied by several broken heart emojis while a third added: "Oh no, Leylah Annie Fernandez found out about a death in the family earlier today before the final."

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

Last year, Fernandez admitted that she suffered after her family went through a scare.“Mental state’s been a little up and down," she said in August 2025.

"My family and I, we went through a bit of a scare earlier this year, and same with my team,” Fernandez revealed ahead of the Cincinnati Masters. “I feel like this year we’ve been challenged a lot off the court.

“Now that we’ve found the balance, things are a lot better. We’re enjoying our time.