The 16-year-old Filipino-Ecuadorian Leylah Annie Fernandez clinched Junior Girls Championship at the French Open in Paris, France.
Fernandez who played for Canada brought down her opponents one at a time to reach the final without dropping a set. She became the first player from Canada to bag a Grand Slam Juniors title 6-2, 6-3 victory over Emma Navarro of the United States since Felix Auger-Aliassime in 2016
Fernadez played 6 straight matches without surrendering a single set:
- Leylah Annie Fernandez vs. Mariia Tkacheva, Russia: 7-5, 6-3
- Leylah Annie Fernandez vs. Marta Custic, Spain: 6-0, 6-3
- Leylah Annie Fernandez vs. Sohyun Park, Korea: 6-2, 6-0
- Leylah Annie Fernandez vs. Elsa Jacquemot, France: 6-0, 6-0
- Leylah Annie Fernandez vs. Maria Osorio Serrano, Colombia: 6-2, 6-4
- Leylah Annie Fernandez vs. Emma Navarro, USA: 6-3, 6-2
Despite some people negative impression, still she continue and show the world her competitive spirit.
“Early on a lot of people said she was too small to play clay. She didn’t have big legs. Didn’t have a big back. The good news is we didn’t listen to it and I encouraged her to not give up on her dream. She always wanted to win the French Open,” Fernandez’ Ecuadorian father shared in media interviews.
She currently trains by her father Jorge Fernandez as her coach. She is not receiving any support and funding from the national development program of Canada.
However, her father and Sylvain Bruneau, the coach in charge of Tennis Canada's women's program have been in discussions to help the young player to the next level.
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