“Just prove her wrong” Leylah Fernandez reveals what advice she would give her younger self
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Leylah Fernandez
World No. 24 Leylah Fernandez thoroughly enjoyed the 2021 season. The Canadian won her first-ever WTA title and also reached the finals of her first Grand Slam event since turning Pro as she had played 2 junior Grand Slam finals, winning the 2019 French Open girls title.
Leylah was defeated in the first round of the 2021 Australian Open, 2nd round of the 2021 French Open and again in the 1st round of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. With not many expecting some big results from the then ranked World No. 73, Leylah defeated 3 Top-5 players including defending champion Naomi Osaka to go all the way to the finals.
While Leylah lost the finals to Emma Raducanu, many believed that Leylah was the more deserving winner given her impressive performances against high ranked players as opposed to Raducanu who did not play any of the Top-10 players throughout the tournament. Nevertheless, Leylah became a massive fan favourite and will be followed closely in the 2022 season.
As Leylah is about to begin her campaign at the upcoming 2022 Australian Open, in an interview with Tennis Channel, she was asked what advice would she give her younger self and the Canadian talked about it.“Keep enjoying your time on the court and off the court.
“Don’t forget the teacher who told you to stop playing tennis. I would just tell her, thank you for telling me that because that just sparked more hunger in me to keep pursuing tennis. I’m gonna do one more set, I’m gonna hit that ball down the line one more time. Don’t listen to that teacher and just prove her wrong and I am glad that I am doing just that,” said Leylah.
Leylah Fernandez played only 1 tournament in the build up to AO 2022
Leylah made her season debut at the WTA-500 event in Adelaide where she lost to Iga Swiatek in the second round after having picked up a straight-set win in the first round of the tournament. Leylah was not involved in any event in the second week and will now play directly at the 2022 Australian Open.
At the first Slam event of the season, Leylah will be taking on Maddison Inglis in their first meeting on the Tour. They have played twice earlier in the challenger equivalent tournaments of the WTA Tour with Leylah winning both the matches against Inglis.
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Sarthak Shitole
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