‘Yoga?’ Leylah Fernandez shares her secret to performing well on clay
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Leylah Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez, the 19 years old who reached all the way to the finals of the US Open, already realizes she will be eternally associated with Emma Raducanu and the improbable events of last year’s US Open. It’s hard to imagine, but the finals were just seven months ago. It appears to be a lot more in some ways.
The young Canadian earned her first victory of the season in early March on the Hologic WTA Tour in Monterrey, Mexico, after losing two of three matches in Australia. Despite never having played a Top 40 player, she won all five matches and showed a level of composure and consistency that kids sometimes lack. In the final, she even came up with a five-point save.
The Canadian shares the training that she is undergoing for clay court. And the answer? Yoga. She says, “The difficulty on this surface is that clay is often very slippery, so all your muscles and ligaments are stretched a lot compared to a hard court. So we do a lot of stretching sessions, but also a lot of yoga so that my groin and leg muscles can be prepared for the next few months.”
“On a hard court, everything goes faster, whereas on a clay court the balls always come back one more time. That’s why you have to be ready to hit a few extra punches. We trained a few hours a day on clay to get used to this challenge.”
What’s in stock for Leylah Fernandez next?
The US Open finalist fell apart in the Miami Open when playing against Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova. But now she is all prepared for the WTA Charleston Open and will face Magda Linette today in the round of 32 matches which will determine whether she moves on to the next round or not. The 19-year-old had a fantastic start to 2022, winning in Monterrey, Mexico, but the Miami Open was her poorest performance since losing in the first round of the Australian Open.
Fernandez successfully defended her Monterrey Open title in March, reaching the final for the fourth time and collecting her second WTA championship. After advancing to the final by defeating Anna Karolina Schmiedlová, Zheng Qinwen, Wang Qiang, and Beatriz Haddad Maia, Fernandez defeated Camila Osorio in three sets, saving five title points in the fourth set.
Fernandez then competed in the Indian Wells Open. She proceeded to the third round following retirement from Amanda Anisimova, where she won the second-set tiebreak and defeated Shelby Rogers in three sets after receiving a bye in the first round. In the fourth round, she was defeated by reigning champion Paula Badosa. Fernandez also competed in the doubles event, teaming up with Alizé Cornet. Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan, the eventual winners, beat the duo in the semifinals.
All this shows us that, the 19-year-old has got an amazing amount of potential and talent and in this tournament, the WTA Charleston Court is the best place to showcase the powerup of her skill level, considering all the hard work and training that she is undergoing.
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Harini Mahesh
(159 Articles Published)