Leylah Fernandez revealed she spent a lot of time reading books and watching true crime documentaries while sidelined with a foot injury. Fernandez, 19, sustained a Grade 3 stress fracture at the French Open. The injury forced Fernandez to skip the entire grass season and she was also not ready to play in Atlanta and Washington.
After being sidelined for two months, Fernandez is set to compete in Toronto. “In the past, I was hard-headed and did not want to read books,” Fernandez said, per the WTA website. “The past few weeks I’ve been reading more and enjoying it — that was definitely surprising”.
Fernandez: I always try to solve the case before the show ends
“I always try to solve the case before the show ends,” Fernandez said. “Most of the time I’m wrong. Using a thinking process, trying to figure things out, the same way I would use on the on the tennis court, figuring out problems”.
The WTA Tour features several promising players who have accomplished some major things at a very early age. Iga Swiatek, 21, won her second Grand Slam after beating 18-year-old Cori Gauff in this past French Open final.
At the 2021 US Open, 19-year-old Emma Raducanu became a Grand Slam champion after beating Fernandez in the final. Fernandez suggests it’s a positive thing to have a healthy competition between the young players as that can only lead to them working harder on improving their game.
“We’ve all gone through that phase of going through juniors, losing [WTA matches] and coming back up,” Fernandez said. “Following along from afar, I would see Coco doing amazing things, Iga doing amazing things, and that definitely motivated me, `OK, I want to do that.’ So it’s a great dynamic between all of us.
Because we see it as an opportunity to better the sport and motivate other young girls to achieve their own dreams. Not necessarily in tennis, but other professions. It can be soccer, engineering, whatever they decide to do.”
