Leylah Fernandez has added a new member to her clan because coach Julian Alonso will accompany the Quebecer to Oceania to start the new tennis season.
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“He’s a Spaniard who has played at a good level and has experience on the women’s circuit,” noted Sylvain Bruneau, head of the women’s section at Tennis Canada.
“I know him for his work with Arantxa Rus, a Dutch [116e au monde]. He’s a nice guy, very positive, very classy and has a good idea of women’s tennis. He can surely bring a lot to Leylah, ”adds Bruneau, who came out of an afternoon on a Florida court on Monday with the 40e racket of the WTA and his father, Jorge Fernandez.
Moreover, the agent of the original Lavalloise confirmed to the Journal that Jorge remained his trainer and that he would be supported by Alonso.
Photo d’archives, REUTERS
Coach Julian Alonso will accompany the Quebecer to Oceania to start the new season.
The latter has already reached the 30e world level, winning two ATP titles in singles and two in doubles. The 45-year-old has previously worked with Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, a 12-year-olde world, and the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, current 33e.
On Boxing Day, Fernandez and Alonso will fly to New Zealand, where the Auckland tournament will be played from January 2 to 8, in preparation for the Australian Open, which will open in Melbourne a week later. .
“A lot of times when you start with a new coach, you want to get used to it, you want to see if it fits personality-wise, if there’s chemistry, if we like what the coach has to say, if the vision goes with his style of play. [Leylah] is a lefty who takes the ball early,” says Bruneau.
According to what Jorge Fernandez told him, the first test of training went well.
“But there, you have to see in a mode of competition. How it goes on the road when there is a little stress, pressure, continues the one who led Fernandez at the Billie Jean King Cup in November. Is the coach calm, how he sees the games, what does he have to say tactically. That’s what they [Leylah et son équipe] are going to do in Australia. »
A left-handed
Fernandez’s entourage had been looking for the rare pearl for more than a year, after the end of the association with the Frenchman Romain Deridder in July 2021. The 20-year-old Quebecer had mentioned to the Journallast summer, that she would be patient in order to find a coach which would suit his left-handed game “which opens the field [avec ses coups] ».
“It’s not a law, but sometimes there are left-handers who like to have a coach who is either left-handed or who has worked with left-handers because the vision is a little different, the game bosses too”, mentions Bruneau.
This is particularly the case of Alonso, who advises Rus, a left-hander with whom he should continue the adventure, according to the Punto de Break site.
Towards a top 10?
Alonso told this tennis blog last week that he hadn’t discussed a ranking goal with Fernandez, but that a top 10 “would be consistent with his potential.”
And the good news is that the old 13e player on the planet is top shape according to what Bruneau was able to observe.
“The injuries are behind her. […] On the field, I found that she hit the ball very well, she hit hard, she moved well, she is in a great state of mind. »
Leylah suffered a stress fracture in her right foot at Roland-Garros, where she still reached the quarter-finals in early June. She had then missed almost two months of activity.
– With Jessica Lapinski
A good omen for Eugenie Bouchard
Sylvain Bruneau took the time to meet Eugenie Bouchard twice during her visit to Florida and he is confident that she will have a great 2023 campaign.
“I saw her Wednesday and Friday,” says the head of women’s tennis at Tennis Canada, who also took advantage of her stay in the Sunshine State to work with a group of 17-year-old Canadian players. We had a little lunch, we talked, we went to the field. She was doing very well. »
Find your place
The 28-year-old Quebecer is trying to find her place in the sun. After dazzling the tennis world with his first WTA title in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2014, reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, the final at Wimbledon, as well as the fifth rank in the world, Bouchard had more difficult years.
In August, she returned to action after right shoulder surgery that kept her sidelined for a year and a half. The slope is not easy to climb for the one that points to the 327e position in the WTA, but his recent performances have pleased Bruneau.
“Now, as she resumed competition at the end of the summer, she needs to play matches, he assures. At the end of the season, she had been a bit hampered by an injury and she had been sick, so she hadn’t been able to play one or two tournaments. »
Go through the qualifiers
It is therefore in good physical shape that Bouchard will participate in the qualifications for the Auckland tournament and the Australian Open, taking advantage of her protected ranking, which was around 118e world place at the time of injuring his shoulder.
“She needs to play matches, so it’s perfect that she goes through the qualifications”, analyzes the Quebec coach.
And “Genie” seems motivated for the next campaign.
“She is well on the attack for 2023, with great ambitions, with the desire to play tennis and to have a healthy year”.
