Leylah Fernandez open and honest about poor 2023 season before late upturn: "I lost my identity"

Leylah Fernandez discussed her challenging 2023 season, which brought her to the brink of falling out of the top-100. The Canadian had an inconsistent year, although the final two months saw her achieve some results that gave her the opportunity to finish the year with renewed confidence.

In Grand Slam tournaments, she managed only a 3-4 record, reaching the second round in the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, while exiting in the first round of the US Open. In WTA 1000 events, she achieved slightly better results with an 8-7 record, with her performance at the Guadalajara Open standing out, where she secured three victories and reached the quarterfinals.

José Morgado

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Ekaterina Alexandrova survives 2021 runner up Leylah Fernandez in 3h04, on a packed Grandstand.

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Fernandez's inconsistency

Leylah Fernandez spoke about her challenging 2023 season, which had her on the brink of dropping out of the top-100. The Canadian experienced an inconsistent year, although the last two months saw her achieve results that gave her the opportunity to finish the year with renewed confidence.

In Grand Slams, she had a modest record of 3-4, reaching the second round in the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, while exiting in the first round of the US Open. In WTA 1000 events, she achieved slightly better results with an 8-7 record, with her performance at the Guadalajara Open standing out, where she secured three victories and reached the quarterfinals.

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The 21-year-old dropped to world No. 96 after a second-round defeat at Roland Garros, losing a significant portion of her points as she couldn't defend her previous year's quarterfinal appearance.

"I lost my identity on the tennis court. I wanted to change my tennis, and it didn't help me. I lost a lot in the first and second rounds," Fernandez said. "But I'm very lucky to have parents who are honest with me. My father Jorge told me that I was lost on the courts, that I didn't seem to be having fun like before."

"It wasn't a very good season for me. I give myself 4 out of 10 if I can be honest. It gave me a lot of confidence for the pre-season, to start training again and play well, I hope, in 2024," former world No. 13 added.

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Strong Finish to the Year

By mid-September, she was outside the top 70, but a surge in the last month of competition brought her back to the higher ranks, finishing the year as No. 35. This puts her close to the seeded positions for Grand Slams, something she could secure with a strong performance in the first week of the 2024 season.

With a notable campaign in Guadalajara and then clinching the title at the WTA 250 Nanchang Open, Fernandez entered the Billie Jean King Cup with great confidence. She led the Canadian team with two victories, securing their first-ever trophy in the competition's history.

"During my training with my father, I began to rediscover the pleasure of playing beautiful tennis. Not just thinking about hitting the ball hard. Having fun playing volleys, drop shots, slices. I think it showed at the end of the year with a singles title," Fernandez said.

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