Can Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez win the French Tennis Open?
” I hope so ! But this title is still a long way off. I want to savor this victory, and focus on my next match,” said the 19-year-old Lavalloise after her impressive three-set victory over American Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round on Sunday.
But can Fernandez really aspire to top honors among the ladies?
“Yes, that’s why we’re here. But to be frank, I believe that all the players here can achieve this, can triumph, because they have made it this far. So we don’t take anyone lightly here at the French Open,” said Jorge Fernandez, his father and coach.
The 17th seed – she is the highest ranked player still in contention in her half of the table – will face Italy’s Martina Trevisan in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
If she wins, then she will set the stage for a duel against an American: Sloane Stephens, whom she has defeated three times in as many career opportunities, or the 18th seed Coco Gauff in the semi-finals. .
Fernandez and Gauff, who is 18 months younger, faced each other in the semi-finals of the French Junior Tennis Open in 2018.
Gauff, then only 14 years old, had taken the honors of the tournament.
A year later, Fernandez was crowned junior champion at Roland Garros.
Both ladies progressed very quickly.
Fernandez’s life is not only vastly different from what she lived in the junior ranks, it’s also different from last year — before reaching the US Open final in September 2021 .
Until then, “Team Fernandez” had two members, the player and her coach. When possible, his trainer father accompanied him on his travels. Sometimes it was his mother, Irene.
These days, the box reserved for the player is usually filled with agents, sponsors, relatives and friends.
Fernandez signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Lululemon, and several others, to further bolster his US$2.6 million (approximately C$3.3 million) on-court earnings.
She usually relies on a training partner. And earlier this year, she had her own athletic therapist.
And her father, Jorge, now follows her full time.
“The financial situation is quite different, of course. In the junior ranks, we never kept accounts, because there was nothing to count. We already knew the answers. And now we don’t keep accounts anymore, because we make more money from tennis than we ever dared to imagine. So it’s not a question of money,” he said.
“But now I’m able to plan a year ahead without worrying about anything. What we are currently trying to do is make good business decisions so that she can pursue her athletic progress — she must be surrounded by the right people, with the right programs, and the right technologies. »
Fernandez has had an up and down season since the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium last year.
The Quebecer has also chained victories at Roland-Garros for the first time since the Indian Wells Open.
But for Jorge, however, what matters is not what his daughter will accomplish at 19. This is the player she will become at 21.
” It is the objective. When she turns 21, I will ask her, ‘Have we accomplished all the things we needed to do between now and then?’ This will be our yardstick in terms of ‘coaching’, management and program development,” he said.
Some changes are already observable within Team Fernandez in 2022.
The training partner she had at the start of the season left, mainly because of visa problems.
Duglas Cordero — a physical trainer who stood out in the women’s final at the US Open last year — has also packed up.
And Team Fernandez are trying to find a new coach to replace Romain de Ridder, who has traveled with Fernandez most of the time for the past two seasons but left his entourage after Wimbledon last year.
And another Fernandez aspires to make the leap to professional players; Bianca. Jorge must therefore take care of two players simultaneously.
However, he does not like to hire a new coach in the middle of the season. He prefers a new coach to be hired in the offseason, to take the time to develop a relationship and test the chemistry between him and the player.
” You should be careful. Some coaches are not flexible. They are not flexible. They have their way. This is what makes the process so complex. Our style is unusual; we do a lot of things differently, he explained. The reason I want to work with someone is because they have a wealth of experience that will allow us to solve our problems. And not ‘we have to change, because that’s how we have to do it’.”
“Sports have changed. The athletes are very talented, on many levels. Our coaching instincts must therefore also evolve… in our way of teaching. And honestly, I feel like sometimes some people just want to sit in our dressing room to be seen. »