Jorge Fernandez, father and coach of Leylah Fernandez, said he was angry and concerned after seeing his daughter continue to play her French Open quarterfinal match despite being in obvious pain and discomfort.
Fernandez was clearly in pain and discomfort during her clash against Martina Trevisan. Even though the US Open runner-up was clearly struggling on the court, she decided against retiring the match.
In the end, Fernandez ended up losing in three sets as Trevisan claimed a 6-2 6-7 (3) 6-3 victory. The Canadian aggravated her foot injury by continuing to play and after the match she was diagnosed with a Grade 3 stress stress fracture in the top of her right foot.
"Anger. I was very angry. And very concerned," said Jorge on TSN. "Again, it's very hard because you have both hats on. And of course, as a coach you kind of say like, okay you know what you got yourself into. That's your decision that you're going to make, then go ahead."
Reflecting on the match, Fernandez senior said he wishes to could have spoken to his daughter and tried to "put some sense in her."
"That's one of the problems with the WTA is you don't get a chance to consult our players," added Jorge. "We don't get a chance to call a simple 30 second time-out and see what really is going on. You know, and I know they tried it in the past and just wonder why it stopped because."
"I think, you know, there was moment, you know, where I could've put some sense into her. And maybe instead of it being what it is now, it could've been a little bit less. Of course as a father I'm concerned and sad and I wanted her to stop."
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An emotional Jorge Fernandez - father and coach of Leylah Annie Fernandez - reveals that his daughter suffered a Grade 3 stress fracture in the top of her right foot, and explains how hard it is to watch his daughter while she's playing in pain.
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