The path to the top 100 is not the same for everyone. Where there are many who take several years to achieve it, there are others who hardly have to wait to achieve it. Leylah Fernandez belongs to the second group, having closed the 2020 course in position # 88 of the classification with only 18 years. The Canadian aims to be a renowned player going forward, although for now we can only tell her story up to this point. Well, she better tell it. Thanks to the blog Behind the Racquet We once again have a first-person account of a woman who always bet on tennis, although she knows that there are things far beyond competition.
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“I started playing tennis as if it were a leisure activity. When I turned 10, I decided to start competing and turn pro. My father was always my coach, although this whole world of tennis was new to him, since he was a footballer, so he chose to surround us with other coaches who shared our philosophy, our style and our game. I never felt pressure from my father when it came to playing or when it came to playing another sport, I never really felt pressure in any aspect of life. He gave me the green light to make my own decisions, in addition to presenting me with many necessary activities “
“I played baseball, soccer, volleyball, I even ran on the track. However, something within me loved tennis above all other disciplines, so when I discovered that Grand Slams Juniors existed, I quickly set a goal to win one. Last year, in 2019, I made it to the final of the Australian Junior Open, but was very disappointed to be defeated. A few months later I won Junior Roland Garros and I became the first Canadian tennis player in the last seven years to lift a Junior Grand Slam “
“This season has been completely different, since I decided to play the professional circuit for the first time. It has been difficult to balance tennis, school and friends. When I started playing tennis I was still in school, I always had my friends and my teachers who always supported me, but I had to constantly compete to compete. I missed some moments of my life with other people my age, then it became difficult to connect again when I returned ”
“I put my dream ahead of everything, although that also brought me some disagreements. I realized that what I really wanted was to play tennis full time. Now I have my friends at a distance, but my family is always by my side. My two sisters are my best friends, they are the ones who keep me fighting on the pitch and the ones who encourage me to continue evolving in this sport ”.
Concerns beyond tennis
“One of my next goals is to graduate from college, get a college degree. I am currently attending an online program with Indiana University, as I also have many dreams once I finish my career with tennis. I would love to participate in different business projects and help companies to be successful. I hope to somehow inspire young Canadian players and show them that we too can become tennis and business professionals.”.
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