At some point this season, Leylah Fernandez, tired of the defeats, thought about taking a break and returning home to be away from the track and, above all, with her family. “I was thinking about taking the rest of the year off out of and return home to my sisters, my parents, to spend more time with them and focus on 2024,” said the young tennis player Newspaperin the last days.
“The difficult year for me was 2023. I’m not going to lie: what I remember most are the bad times,” added the 21-year-old Quebecer.
“But ultimately I decided to continue working hard in this sport, which has given me many positive moments. What I’ve learned over the last few months is that when negative moments arise, I need to be able to overcome them.
A fantastic end to the season
Leylah has no regrets about persevering after her second-round defeats at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and first-round defeats in New York.
Furthermore, shortly after her first-round exit at Flushing Meadows at the hands of Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, something in her game clicked. she explained recently.
Leylah Fernandez at the US Open. Photo Getty Images via AFP
A few weeks later, Fernandez reached the quarterfinals in Guadalajara, a prestigious event in the WTA 1000 category identical to the National Bank Open in Montreal. She also made it to the final four in Nanchang, China.
Most importantly, she won the title in Hong Kong before being the key player there Canada’s historic triumph at the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I am very proud of myself to have ended the year with a title, the Billie Jean King Cup. I am proud of the fighting spirit I showed in difficult times, of my perseverance,” smiled the player from Laval.
The rise and the hope
These end-of-season successes allowed her to move up the WTA rankings to 35th, after being as high as 96th at one point during the season.
“It was a difficult year, but also a special year because I learned a lot about myself,” emphasized Fernandez.
Photo AFP
“I now hope that the 2024 season will be a little easier than this year! she continued and laughed. You never know, but I’m very happy with how I ended 2023.”
“We’re working very hard on the next campaign and knowing I’ve got through the last few months I’m now looking for a bit more consistency. In games won, not in games lost!”