It’s one thing to be at your lowest. It is another to recognize it.
The difference between Leylah Annie Fernandez and the player she was when she reached the U.S. Open final in 2021 is minimal. If experience has a price, it is paying dearly for it.
A total of 11 wins in 19 games. In a sport other than tennis, this record would be acceptable, even sufficient. However, in an individual discipline where every loss means packing up, playing too close to the .500 benchmark is insufficient.
Especially for a Grand Slam finalist. Especially for a player capable of being among the best in the world.
However, his age gives him a kind of cushion. Even if it means not having a good season, Fernandez has time. The time needed to do things better.
Since her ascent to Flushing Meadows, it’s been dead calm for the 20-year-old Quebecer. She won a title in Monterrey, of course, but she was never able to relive the intoxication of victory and taste again the enthusiasm aroused by a victorious flight on one of the greatest stages in the world.
“The results are not there,” she told The Pressin an office at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, where she is in preparation for the qualifying phase of the Billie Jean King Cup.
Dressed in a Fila tracksuit in the colors of the national team, Fernandez was very lucid when analyzing her last months on the WTA Tour. ” It’s a little complicated. »
PHOTO DARRYL DYCK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Leylah Annie Fernandez will be part of the Canadian team at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers this weekend.
Thirteenth player in the world last summer, the left-hander is struggling to line up the victories. She has been unable to win more than two games in a row since the start of the season. His game is nothing short of catastrophic. She hasn’t lost touch necessarily. She is only unable to be constant. Invariably, she struggles against the best players, without guaranteeing to win these crucial matches in her quest to return to the world elite.
“Physically, I feel good, I’m confident, I feel strong. My game is also going well, I try to impose it on the players I play against. I just need to be patient, ”says the 50e world racket.
This is the most difficult aspect of his progress to accept: “Even if I feel good, the results don’t come. »
The pressure of the past
Fernandez celebrated his 19e anniversary in New York a year and a half ago, in the midst of one of the most exhilarating weeks in Canadian sport.
At these United States Open, she defeated Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka in quick succession before losing in the final against the no less surprising Emma Raducanu.
Obviously, the day after this magnificent course, Fernandez had to negotiate with something unknown: expectations. Those of fans, its new sponsors, Canadians and its own.
PHOTO ROBERT DEUTSCH, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Leylah Annie Fernandez made the U.S. Open final at age 19 in 2021.
So it’s only fitting to ask whether, for all the glory and fallout that this somewhat precocious New York adventure has spawned, all that hype, attention, and pressure will have had any ill effects.
“Maybe,” she replies, taking care to think carefully. I don’t know. Right now, I really don’t know. Even before the US Open, my expectations were very high. Right now, it’s very normal for me to have those expectations. We’ll see in the next few years, you can ask me this question in a few years, but right now, I’m at peace with the path I took. »
During this American bubble, the Quebecer was unshakable. It is still too early to say whether she overplayed or if she will be able to reproduce such quality of play. However, since then, she has lost her six confrontations against players from the top 10.
“Yes, I reached the final of a grand slam tournament and yes, at the moment it is a very difficult period when I play against players from the top 10. Even the players of top 20 And 30 have a big caliber, so all the matches are going to be difficult. »
It’s normal that people have expectations, because I have the same.
Leylah Annie Fernandez
Fernandez has been unlucky, however, in the draws since the start of the season. Her slide in the standings will, of course, give her more formidable opponents earlier and earlier in the tournaments, but bad luck hangs on the Quebecer.
She faced Caroline Garcia (4e world) from the second round in Australia, Iga Świątek (1D) in the second round in Dubai, Garcia (5e) again, but in the third round, in Indian Wells, Belinda Bencic (9e) in the second round in Miami and Paula Badosa (12e) last week in the second round of the Charleston tournament.
Fernandez laughed when the remark was made to her, as if to approve that indeed, she never had a break. “I’m happier to have been able to play these matches, so I can see where my game is and I can compare myself, see the mistakes I make in key moments. Now it’s just to go back to work and wait for another opportunity to play against them. »
At least Fernandez was able to take some consolation by virtue of a presence in the women’s doubles final at the Miami tournament with her partner Taylor Townsend.
Help Canada
His medium-term objective is to return to the top 30 by the end of the season.
In the meantime, she will have to help Canada qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup finals. To achieve this, the Canadian team will have to get rid of Belgium over the weekend.
Fernandez looked relieved to reconnect with familiar surroundings in Vancouver and reunite with her teammates.
“Oh! she pushed with a sigh and lowering her shoulders, I’m so happy. »
She notes the growing enthusiasm for team competitions. For players like her, for whom it is more difficult, a competition of this kind can be life-saving. “It’s the only week where we can play a tournament that is bigger than ourselves and where our goals are not just personal. »
She will also find Rebecca Marino and Gabriela Dabrowski. Two teammates holding a special place in her heart: “They opened their arms to me and taught me what it meant to play in the BJK Cup and represent Canada. I’m always happy to see Rebecca and Gaby back, they’re like big sisters… Like my parents more like,” concluded the youngest of the team with a frank laugh.
