Leylah Annie Fernandez - The next Canadian on the rise
The reservoir of potential top players in Canada seems almost inexhaustible. With Leylah Annie Fernandez the next is about to be announced.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Nov 30, 2020, 11:12 am
It's hard to say whose form suffered the most from the Corona break in 2020. With a view to the last results before the tour shutdown in March, Leylah Annie Fernandez would certainly not have objected if the game had continued as normal. The 18-year-old Canadian had just before reached her first final on the WTA tour in Acapulco (and lost to Heather Watson), followed by the quarter-finals in Monterrey, where Fernandez was defeated by the eventual winner Elina Svitolina.
After resumption of play, the teenage girl's results were still impressive, at the French Open Fernandez reached about the third round, losing to Petra Kvitova there. In Roland Garros, she caused quite a stir for the first time in 2019: with an impressive run in the junior women competition, which safely brought her the title. Fernandez had already reached the final of the junior tournament at the Australian Open.
Experience in other disciplines
But tennis isn't everything, as the website Behind the Racket revealed. "It's difficult to find the right balance between tennis, school and friends," says Fernandez. “When I started tennis, I was in a regular school. I had friends and teachers who supported me, but I was always out and about in competitions. I missed special moments in my friends' lives, had trouble finding connections when I came back. ”Now her two sisters are her best friends.
The start of her career was only possible with family support. “My father was my coach, but he was new to tennis because he actually played soccer. He got me other coaches who understood our philosophy and our style. I never felt any pressure from my father to do sports or anything else in life. He gave me the green light and introduced me to many different activities. I played baseball, soccer, volleyball, and also did athletics. "