Leylah Fernandez EXPLAINS How TOUGH is to play against Alex Eala

[0:02] Hi Leila. Tough loss today. Just when it became 5-1 in the second, just what do you think kind of switched? [0:09] Was it more of what Alex changed your game or just something on your end, your perspective on that? [0:13] No, I mean, I was talking a little bit with my coaches and I guess for myself, well, first of all, today I wasn't playing my best [0:23] and kind of tried to switch it up a little bit in the second set and it was working. [0:28] And at 5-1, I guess I wanted it too much and started reverting back to how I played in the first set, [0:36] which obviously it didn't help. And I started making more mistakes, forcing some errors and yeah, that's what happened. [0:46] Hi Leila. For you in situations like this, do you go straight back to almost the drawing board, [0:52] sort of like list of things you want to work on right away? [0:55] Or are you someone who sort of, you know, you're more sort of process orientated where you're sort of like, [1:02] okay, that was that, moving on to the next thing? [1:07] No, I mean, I love to analyze all my matches, wins or losses. [1:13] So, I mean, I would go and talk with my coaches immediately or maybe like 5-10 minutes later [1:20] to see what I did well, what I didn't do well. And then from there, we have objectives of what we want to work on [1:26] for the next training sessions and, you know, see what we can improve on for the next tournaments. [1:32] Leila, you've played Alex now a couple of times. Anything stand out, not necessarily today, [1:43] but just in general with the progression that she's made over the several months here? [1:46] I mean, honestly, Alex has been playing really well. I think the biggest thing is that she's playing with a lot of confidence. [1:54] She's trusting herself, trusting her shots, her patterns, and a lot of her balls are going in. [1:59] So, that's the big difference. I feel like she's progressing well. [2:06] Whatever she's doing with her team is working and, yeah. [2:11] She's had a lot of early success, if you will, and I know you went through something similar years ago. [2:20] How does one sustain that? Maybe it's easier said than done. [2:24] What are the potential challenges that she'll potentially have to be aware of here? [2:30] I mean, I don't want to speak for her because she has her own line, her own team, her own profession, [2:42] professional kind of environment. I think for myself growing up, the difficulty was managing expectations, [2:51] and mainly expectations for myself and being mature enough to understand that wins and losses are things that I can't control. [3:03] And sometimes my best tennis is not going to get me the win, but the uglier tennis will. [3:08] So, just being able to accept that and being mature enough to do that. [3:12] So, that was probably my experience that I wish that I had learned back then. [3:18] Maybe it would have helped me now, maybe not. I don't know. I can't change the past. [3:23] So, for Alex, again, I don't know what to tell her. [3:28] She's doing a great job up to now, and I know she has a great team around her. [3:33] Hey, Laila. So, last year you won this tournament, then you went to Canada, and you lost your first round match. [3:42] Yeah. [3:43] This year, I mean, I know Canada is probably a really big tournament for you, and I know they're all big, [3:48] and you want to win all of them. [3:49] But I'm just curious, given how much is probably on your shoulders when you go to play in Canada, [4:00] what is the preparation for that like, and is there maybe a silver lining in losing early here, [4:07] because you have a little time to catch your breath and get ready for what awaits you in, I can't remember. [4:14] You're going to Toronto this year, right? [4:15] Going to Toronto, yes. [4:17] Wow. Yeah, last year I won the tournament, lost first round. [4:23] Definitely a heartbreak because I was playing at home where I grew up in the stadium that I played in [4:28] and trained at for the longest time. [4:32] I mean, this year, obviously, I wish I would have done better in the tournament in Washington [4:38] where I had so many great memories, and, you know, losing early. [4:44] I guess we'll see in Toronto if it is a silver lining. [4:50] It's like, if I lose first round, then no, there's no silver lining. [4:53] If I go deep in the tournament, then, yeah, it helped out. [4:57] But if not, I'm just going to take it one day at a time, train, go back to the drawing board. [5:03] It will give me one or two days extra to actually visit family, which I haven't visited in a couple of years now. [5:10] My uncle has a baby, so I get to see my little cousin. [5:14] I get to see my aunts and cousins in Toronto. [5:17] So that's the silver lining that I see. [5:20] But result-wise, we're going to see in a couple of weeks. [5:25] And then can I just ask you, just going back a few years now, [5:27] when you did play in Canada the first year after you had that breakout at the U.S. Open, [5:33] what was that like for you? [5:35] And was that, I mean, was that a challenge, knowing that all the eyes were on you like that? [5:40] Not really. [5:41] It was actually more exciting. [5:43] The challenge was because I was going to Toronto after my injury, after the stress fracture. [5:50] And the reality was that I didn't train, I guess, the intensity that I should have trained before a tournament. [5:59] And I guess I came in there with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of energy, but I just wasn't match shape ready. [6:10] So I got around, lost in the second round against Hadad Maya, who was playing great at that time and still playing great now. [6:19] I mean, she's a tough opponent to play against. [6:22] So, I mean, it's just something that I got to keep working on and, again, managing my own expectations, [6:33] always wanting to do better than last year, but also kind of make it realistic for myself [6:41] and focusing on something that I can control, which is my tennis game, my attitude, and my intensity on court. [6:47] Hi, Leila. [6:48] Hi. [6:49] This tournament, Alex, she came back, or yesterday, she came back from a set and a breakdown against Ken Nguyen. [6:54] And then today was obviously the 1-5 comeback. [6:57] From the outside, looking in, I feel like she might have gained a reputation of just being a fighter [7:02] or maybe a tough opponent to close out in sets or just the matches overall. [7:06] Can you maybe speak to that in your opinion, and do you feel like maybe that could be on your mind [7:11] or sometimes as a player, specifically against her when you're trying to close out sets like that [7:18] when you've seen her come back in other matches like that? [7:22] Well, the truth was I didn't think about that at all today. [7:25] I mean, I was 5-1 up. [7:27] I was playing well, doing the right patterns. [7:31] And again, I think I said it earlier today that I wanted it too much where I started being overly aggressive. [7:39] I changed my own tactic, which was pretty dumb of me. [7:44] But, you know, she's a tough player. [7:47] She's playing with a lot of confidence. [7:50] She's trusting herself. [7:53] So, like, she's always in the match, whether she's down or whether she's up. [7:58] So, she's playing well this year. [8:01] And for myself, I just need to focus and see what I need to do better when I am up in the score. [8:08] Hey, Layla. [8:09] Hi. [8:09] You talked last year, I remember, after you won, about how this place kind of reignited your passion for the sport and everything. [8:17] And you've had some quarterfinal runs this year and at the tail end of last year. [8:20] I guess just how does your game feel? [8:22] How do you feel about tennis and life right now as you head back home to Canada? [8:27] Yeah, I'm feeling excited. [8:28] I'm feeling excited, actually. [8:29] Like, I love competing, so that has never wavered, which I'm quite proud of myself, especially with how the year has gone. [8:39] But getting on court, playing in front of a stadium of great fans has always motivated me to do better and to get back on court. [8:49] So, I'm just excited. [8:51] My game, definitely not at the level that I want it to be, but that is something that I've got to take a day by day, keep improving, keep figuring things out, and keep my head up. [9:03] I think the difficult part is keeping my head up in those moments, and I have a great team, great family who keep reminding me that, you know, my time will come. [9:12] Just got to be patient and put in the work. [9:13] Oh, hi, Leila. [9:17] Hi, Leila. [9:17] Having played Alex in Germany, what do you think she did today that made it difficult for you, and what did this match teach you moving forward? [9:29] Thank you. [9:30] Yeah, of course. [9:31] I mean, I don't think I did much different from Germany to here. [9:39] For myself, I just didn't play good. [9:44] I mean, the first 12 points, I'm pretty sure I just won one or two points. [9:48] I missed everything, pushed the ball. [9:52] So it was definitely not my best tennis today, but, you know, I tried to keep positive, and I think Alex what she did well is that she hung in there. [10:05] She trusted her game. [10:06] So what I needed to do better, what I needed to learn is to start from the match with that high focus and not give away 12 points so easily and be down 3-11 in a span of five minutes. [10:22] So that can be a big change. [10:25] If it was a couple of disses here and there, maybe the momentum would be different. [10:29] Maybe it would be a little bit more competitive the first set. [10:32] So we never know. [10:33] Those are all what-ifs. [10:34] But yeah, for myself, I just got to be able to focus real quick in the beginning.