Winning ugly is still winning, right? Leylah Fernandez recently took three sets to beat the Chinese player, Yue Yuan in the first round of the Cincinnati Open. If we take a look at her performance in that match, well it wasn’t as impressive as you’d expect from a former US Open finalist. She was clearly struggling a bit with her serves in that match, however, she still somehow managed to get the result in her favor. Shortly after clinching a hard-fought victory, Fernandez revealed how her father used Coco Gauff‘s coach’s mantra to motivate her ahead of the match.

Leylah has been struggling a bit to find consistency this season. Although she got some good results in some of her matches this season, she failed to deliver the brand of tennis that she’d have wanted. This is where her father, Jorge, comes into picture. Although he had never played tennis in his career and was more involved with soccer, he took up the role of coaching her daughter. So considering all these factors ahead of the Cincinnati tournament, her father told her that it’s not so important how she’s winning the matches, as long as she’s winning them.

Fernandez was down by a set but thankfully for her fans, she managed to come back in the next two against Yuan. Reflecting on the same lines during a post-match interview on Tennis Channel, Fernandez revealed, “It wasn’t the best tennis at all. But it was funny coz we had that conversation earlier this morning. My coach and I were talking and he was saying ‘Look today you’re not going to play your best. It’s not gonna great, but be strong mentally. Win ugly! So that was kind of the phrase that we’ve been using all morning.”

Now we all know, that Gauff and Fernandez are good friends. Do you know that Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert wrote a book named, ‘Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis- Lessons from a Master’? What does ‘winning ugly’ mean though according to the words of this renowned coach?

A win is a win we all know that, right? According to Gilbert, ‘Winning Ugly’ means, “In the most simplistic way, winning ugly is about figuring out how to win. In a lot of tennis lessons, you’re learning how to hit the ball a little better. But that’s not about competing.” Even during Gauff’s matches, we have seen fans using this term very often. However, switching back to ‘Winning Ugly’, has Gauff read her coach’s book yet?

Well, during a previous interview, the 20-year-old revealed, “I bought a copy but I didn’t read it. Maybe I should add it to my reading list.” She said her mom bought that for her and told her that she needed to read this. However, according to Gauff, she thinks she has got the “real version” so she doesn’t need a book!

Both Gauff and Fernandez have enormous potential to become two of the best in women’s tennis. So, the only advice from the coaches is also quite similar- nothing matters as long as you’re winning the matches! Talking about similarity, here is a funny incident involving these two WTA stars.

Gauff got mistaken as Fernandez in Montreal

Despite her rising stardom, the then 19-year-old found herself in a humorous predicament: being mistaken for other tennis players. From Sloane Stephens to the Williams sisters, Gauff has been a victim of mistaken identity, often signing autographs for the wrong person. The latest and perhaps most surprising incident occurred in Montreal, where she was confused with local hero Fernandez.

The fan had even asked her for an autograph, thinking her to be Fernandez. Talking about her hilarious experience from last year, Gauff revealed, “I sign autographs as myself but occasionally I am somehow also signing as Sloane, Venus, Serena, Taylor, Alycia, and yesterday I got Leylah for the first time lollll.”

Well, on the sporty side, the two have etched their names in tennis history for ‘Winning Ugly’. Share your thoughts on which win you think was Gauff’s ‘ugliest’ victory in her career so far.