Impressive at key moments, Leila Annie Fernandez won her first WTA Tour title on Sunday night in Mexico.
Quebec dominated Swiss Victoria Golubic 6-1 6-4 in the 250th Championship final in Monterrey.
At the end of the last point I celebrated. But she only fully appreciated what happened after five minutes, as she recounted during a video conference in three languages - she speaks French, English and Spanish – with the media after the match.
Or when VIPs saw trophies in the direction of the stadium.
“I sat down, took a deep breath and realized that I had won.”
Then the passion prevailed.
Last year in Acapulco, she lost in the final, losing in three sets to British Heather Watson. This experience served her greatly on Sunday evening.
“Before the match, I was talking with my dad, I remembered the feelings I had last year, the disappointment. The 18-year-old indicated that he had just asked me to use that as fuel for the day and I did. I managed to calm my nerves and feelings more easily.”
Last year, I was a little frustrated by my mistakes, but this time I was only able to think about the right time to try to implement my game plan as closely as possible and it worked.
Layla Annie Fernandez
Montrealer did not lose a single round this week. It will pass on Monday in the year 88H Up to 69H Global ranking.
opportunism
Among the cool clichés in sports is the idea that the end result does not represent the appearance of the match. We cannot use it this time.
Montreller won two very different races.
First, it flew over it. In 35 minutes and dusted. However, the final score may have been played in the first long 16-point match she won despite two double faults – one of which is rarely seen between the pros – and a breakout point. Tone is set.
The rest of this group, she totally took control of it. Where did the event take place? Above all. Service charge. And mentally too, because she keeps the other three break points against her on this round.
Fernandez indicated in a press conference that Golubic appeared more offensive at the start of the second half and reduced the number of mistakes.
More than we can expect.
Because even though the Swiss were 102H The world and after qualifying, I have already dealt with Top 50 (51H In 2017). But most importantly, it has a strong start to the season.
Rank 138H At the start of the year, she was defeated in the Final at the WTA 250 in Lyon earlier this month. Including the ITF (lower-level) tournaments and the Australian Open qualifiers, Golubic advanced against Fernandes with a 23-4 record in 2021. In theory, it’s not an easy target, then.
But Quebec, once again, showed confidence in decisive moments. And at 4-4 o’clock, Golubic broke before closing the books gently.
“During the last point, I didn’t know how I was able to return the air balls, but it was a nice point,” commented the winner. I’m so happy I was able to win it. ”
Especially since the last game – the last two points in particular – she said was when she got so nervous. It doesn’t seem very clear.
Two trips and then a match
Layla Annie Fernandez is now 8-4 in 2021.
This victory, she was sad about not being able to confirm it with those close to her. It is not an easy start to the season.
I hope I can celebrate this cup soon with my family at home and have a good dinner together.
Layla Annie Fernandez
This was his twenty gainH In his career in the main draw on the WTA circuit, where the first was recorded in Quebec in 2018, against fellow countryman Gabriela Dabrowski.
The following year, she won the Roland Garros Junior Championship, becoming the first Canadian to win the Grand Slam Junior Championship since Eugenie Bouchard in 2012.
Of course, Fernandez doesn’t intend to stop there. Remember that she has set herself a very ambitious goal to achieve Top 10 Starting this year.
Besides, she had already started flipping the page an hour after that first headline.
“I am happy, but now I have to think about how I can improve myself,” she told reporters. Hope to win a second title soon. ”
On Sunday evening, she was already hopping on a plane, before Monday morning she boarded again for Miami … where from Monday evening she will play a qualifying match for this Class 1000 tournament. It is the second favorite on the qualifying schedule.
On the other hand, we are only in March, and it was already a third Canadian final in 2021, after Felix Auger-Aliassim in Melbourne and Eugenie Bouchard in Guadalajara. It has been said that Canadian tennis performs well.