Canadian tennis star Leylah Fernandez is one of the brightest WTA prospects. She rose to fame after a stellar performance in the 2021 US Open. While we saw a young Emma Raducanu script history, the runner-up also played a special role. Coming from Canada, the 20-year-old doesn’t have as much exposure as her European and American colleagues. Recently, the 2021 US Open finalist spoke about her initial days and the crucial backing from her parents.

Leylah Fernandez thanks her parents for their support

Choosing and acing a sport that is not very popular in your country is always difficult. However, Leylah did it. She had a passion for tennis and her parents backed her completely in her early days. Fernandez is currently in Australia, plying her trade in the Australian Open.

Speaking to the media after her first-round victory against French tennis star Alize Cornet, the 20-year-old said, ” I think where my parents did a good job was that they kept my innocence, that they kept the dream for me, and that they didn’t really break me down, like, with, No, you can’t do it. They kept giving me positive sentences, positive reinforcement so that I can keep working and keep enjoying this sport as much as I can.”

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Leylah has done well in her short career so far. After showing great potential at a very young age, it will be interesting to see how her career shapes out to be.

Fernandez on handling hate comments

Sport is a great leveler. It can take you to great heights and can be equally dark at times. When the performance is good, everything is great. However, as an athlete, it is very important to deal with failures. And to do so, one has to learn how to handle hate comments.

The 20-year-old has a pretty mature approach toward hate comments. In an interview, the Canadian admitted that she never reads an article about herself. Even when she hears something negative about herself, the idea is to ignore it.

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It will be interesting to see how she proceeds with her career.