Decoding Leylah Fernandez’s Style of Play: Forehand Speed, Serve and Backhand
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Leylah Annie Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez has taken the tennis fraternity by storm after her amazing performances in 2021 especially at the 2021 US Open where she reached the finals defeating three Top-5 players in her run to the finals at the age of 19 becoming one of the youngest Canadians to reach the finals of the Grand Slam in New York, her first major final.
The big stage is not unknown for the Canadian as she reached two Grand Slam junior finals in 2019 before turning Pro the same year. She made it to the finals of the 2019 Australian Open Junior Singles finals but had to settle for the runners-up trophy. She then went on to lift the trophy at the 2019 French Open Junior Singles and a few months later turned Pro.
Leylah Fernandez Style of Play
Leylah so far in her short career has shown dominance on Hardcourts and Clay courts. She has not been able to replicate her performances on Grass but with the talent she posses it won’t be long before she does that too.
She is more of a baseliner and seldomly goes for serve-and-volley as it has been spotted that her volley needs some work. Being a lefty gives her a good advantage and she uses it perfectly. Leylah has been praised for not letting her short height be a disadvantage to her.
She has been seen taking up the ball early and changing directions with forehand crosses and compliments it with a solid backhand as well. She switches from offence to defence easily but mostly prefers to stay on the offence. She has shown that she does not crack under pressure and has the ability to win a tight 3-setter as well.
Leylah Fernandez: Forehand, Backhand and Serve
Leylah‘s biggest weapon is her forehand. She is a powerful hitter and possesses great accuracy in her flat groundstrokes as well, which make her one of the good forehand players on the WTA Tour. Since she is just in her 2nd fulls season as a Pro on the tour, with more experience she is expected to hone her skills and improve her forehand.
Leylah‘s backhand is equally good as her forehand. Her backhand is quite accurate and is often found to be a good advantage for her as she uses it to perfection. Her backhand down the line has often got her a fair share of her points and has also been a crucial shot during long rallies for her.
Her service is not as good as her other shots but still, her first serve is better than her second serve. Her serve is usually in the range of 90-100 miles/hour (145-160 km/hr). Despite not being one of the fastest servers on the Tour, she still maintains at least a 50% success rate on her serves.
Also Read: What will be the new WTA ranking for Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez post US Open 2021 success?
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)