“If I’m tired, she must be exhausted,” Leylah Fernandez said after one of the matches. The US Open 2021 runner-up’s fiery style of play has taken its toll on many. On Tuesday, the Canadian will try to catch up with Iga Świątek.

It will be an infernally difficult task. Our tennis player arrived in the Middle East in fabulous shape. She won the title in Doha last week, losing just five matches along the way. In fact, she never got tired, hence the justified hopes that she will maintain her winning streak in Dubai.

With Leylah Fernandez, he will play for the second time in his career. Their first confrontation a year ago in Adelaide did not thrill. Iga Świątek played as a note, but Fernandez falsified. Five quarters of an hour were enough to settle this unequal confrontation. Iga won 6:2, 6:1.

The quoted story of their only game so far contradicts what the 20-year-old Montrealer is associated with. If the entry Leylah Fernandez was in the encyclopedia, the definition would have to include words like: stubbornness, tenacity, self-confidence, strong character.

An athlete, not a tennis player

All these qualities were instilled in him by his father. The word “original” best describes it. When his 9-year-old daughter was denied further participation in the National Most Talented Program, he decided to take care of her himself. However, he said he would not raise her to be a tennis player, but an athlete. What is the difference? essential. As a former footballer, he didn’t know much about tennis, but he knew exactly what an athlete needed.

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In the first place, it emphasizes physical and mental preparation, while technique takes second place. The teacher was supposedly strict and his methods were controversial. To bounce balls with a 9-year-old girl, he invited, for example, an athletic friend almost 2 meters tall. He asked her to knock harder and harder. The message was simple: Leylah, this is not basketball or football – no one is going to push you. You have to focus on the ball, not on the strength of the opponent.

Watermark Leylah entered the exchange of blows with a man twice her size. Ten years later, Jorge probably only smiled at the memory of those training sessions as he watched his daughter take down defending champions Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka, both hard-hitting and built, en route to the final of the Champions League. ‘US Open.

(un)happy underwear

Originally from Ecuador, Jorge Fernandez had more original ideas. After the girl performed well in local tournaments and got back into the good graces of the national federation, he refused to allow Leylah to join a program that would offer her free training. Leylah’s mother, Exevea, thought her husband was crazy. But at this point, he trusted himself more than the professionals at Tennis Canada.

You can already guess who had the last word in the separation discussion. As the offer of free training was rejected and Jorge devoted himself to training the increasingly promising Leylah and her younger sister, the money was needed. Exevea had to fly to California in search of a well-paying job. “Those were tough years because the girls only saw their mother twice a year,” Jorge told The New York Times.

Paradoxically, when the girl, at the age of 19, achieved dazzling success and sensationally qualified for the final of the US Open, her mother was sitting in the stands, but her father had disappeared. All because of… superstition. Jorge appeared in the previous final, which didn’t end well for his daughter. – It was last year in Acapulco and she lost. I hated myself for two good months. “On game day, I use the same shampoo, I wear the same jeans, the same socks and the same underwear. It’s nothing new. Leylah and I are used to that if something works, we let’s not change it,” he added with disarming honesty.

She knocked, but didn’t follow

The history of superstitions does not yet have a sequel. Leylah has been falling for the past few months and has made just one WTA Finals in the past year and a half. Victory in the mid-strength event in Monterrey didn’t impress anyone. As time goes on, the question will become increasingly relevant as to whether we are seeing Leylah stoppage, or perhaps being held hostage in the US Open final, with expectations too high.

If Fernandez’s career is to get back on track, it needs wins over players such as Świątek or the aforementioned Sabalenka. Meanwhile, the Canadian has only won one game against a top 20 player since the start of 2022. It is certainly not enough to think about winning tournaments like the one in Dubai, where all the best players have come , with the exception of Ons Jabeur, injured.

The meeting between Iga Świątek and Leylah Fernandez will take place on center court and will open the evening session. It will certainly not start before 4 p.m. Polish time. The WP Sportowe Fakty portal will of course carry out a “live” report of this duel.

Szymon Adamski, WP Sportowe Fakty journalist
Watch WTA Tour matches with Iga Świątek, Magda Linette and other top players on CANAL+ online (Sponsored link)