PARIS | A few hours before Novak Djokovic became a legend on Sunday at Roland-Garros, Leylah Annie Fernandez also had the chance to write a page of history. A smaller one certainly, but a page of history all the same.
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In fact, the 20-year-old only learned after her women’s doubles final that she could have become the first Quebecer to claim a major professional title.
“Really? I didn’t know… Wow! You broke my heart a little more!” reacted Leylah when questioned by The newspaper.
She could also have been the number 1 doubles player in Canada. But it’s only a postponement, as her partner, Taylor Townsend, so well underlined, with whom she lost 1-6, 7-6 (5) and 6-1 against China’s Xinyu Wang and Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh.
“That’s what I said to Leylah at the end of the match: ‘Look, we’ve only been together since March. We will play as a team again and again, I am sure. It’s okay to lose. We are progressing, both on and off the court,” said the 27-year-old American.
After the defeat, Fernandez collapsed in her chair, in tears.
“I looked Leylah in the eye and said, ‘what the hell does it matter we lost? This is our first Grand Slam together! We will have other opportunities.” It was emotional, she has already been in the singles final in a Grand Slam, me, it was my second doubles final in a major. We have to turn the page and learn from this experience,” added Townsend.
Photo: AFP
Taylor Townsend and Leylah Annie Fernandez pose after losing the women’s doubles final in Paris on Sunday.
After Sebastien Lareau
Only one player from La Belle Province has lifted a Grand Slam trophy. At the 1999 United States Open, Sébastien Lareau was crowned men’s doubles champion along with American Alex O’Brien.
Born in Montreal, but also raised in Laval and Vaudreuil-Dorion, Fernandez reached the singles final in New York two years ago. Eugenie Bouchard was also a finalist at Wimbledon in 2014.
Champion at Roland-Garros among juniors, Fernandez was therefore unable to save the honor of Canada, after the defeat of Bianca Andreescu in the final of the mixed doubles, and that of Robert Shaw in the wheelchair quad doubles.
Mistakes and bad decisions
Leylah, who should go from 49e at 95e rank in singles on Monday, was frustrated for three minutes after the duel, while Townsend comforted her.
“We came so close. I made mistakes and made bad choices at key moments, analyzed Fernandez. I said to myself that if I had landed a shot or two more, maybe the result would be different, but we will never know.
Fernandez is demanding. It’s true that she didn’t have a great first run, but Townsend took matters into her own hands, despite the wet weather that invaded the Philippe-Chatrier court. However, the tide turned in the second set and the 10are competition favorites have never been the same. In the last set, the Quebecer missed a few returns as the left-handed duo trailed 3-1.
“In the third, I just made too many mistakes. Basic mistakes you can’t make in a game like this. A score of 4-1 or 3-2 makes all the difference,” she agreed.