“Waiting for the Right Moment”: Leylah Fernandez’s Father Cites Roger Federer as an Example on Tactical Approach

Oct 12, 2021 | 1:55 PM EDT

“Waiting for the Right Moment”: Leylah Fernandez’s Father Cites Roger Federer as an Example on Tactical Approach

Oct 12, 2021 | 1:55 PM EDT

Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez made a name for herself during the US Open 2021 with an incredible run to the final. During the tournament, she was being coached by her dad, Jorge Fernandez. Interestingly, he was not physically present but instead regularly engaged in video conferences.

Recently, Leylah Fernandez’s father spoke on the coaching role he had during his daughter’s US Open run. He revealed the manner in which he provided her with the necessary tactics on the basis of his analysis of her next opponent. He also made sure to hand Leylah a couple of tricks in case the existing plan wasn’t working.

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The coach-dad of the teenager stated, “Leylah and I were on a video conference every day discussing the game plan. Afterward, I would send her some video links for her to analyze the trends and weaknesses of her rival that I wanted her to exploit at the appropriate time.”

Leylah Fernandez took a page or two from Roger Federer’s book

Jorge gave his daughter the example of the Swiss maestro Roger Federer. Over the years, he has showcased many tricks and tactics which are often copied by other players on the Tour. A few years ago, Roger used the Sneak Attack By Roger (SABR).

In that, he would come up to the service baseline while the opponent was tossing the ball in the air for their service and as a result, he would hit the ball earlier than usual, which didn’t give his opponents much time to think.

Leylah‘s father further added, “It’s important to keep cards up your sleeve. Roger Federer is capable of hitting aces on every serve, but he’s waiting for the right moment to pull out his best shots and surprise his opponent.”

Coming to tennis, Federer decided to end his season after requiring to undergo another knee surgery. However, Leylah is competing in the Indian Wells 2021 and will be facing Shelby Rogers in the Round of 16.

Watch this story: How Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Others Travel

Written by

Rohan Kollare

1,671 Articles

Rohan Kollare is a Tennis author at EssentiallySports. Rohan has studied Sports Management and has a trophy cabinet adorned with accolades won in district and state-level tennis competitions. He has previously worked in Content Operations for Disney’s Hotstar for over a year, covering Tennis and Formula One. Rohan's experience as a player gives him the ability to provide incisive analysis of the game rather than a superficial understanding. When not staunchly supporting his idol Roger Federer, Rohan likes to dive into animal welfare work, get lost in a book or listen to some music.

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