Leylah Fernandez opens up on competing alongside other Canadian athletes at the Olympics - "I wasn't the only one working hard towards my goals"

Canadian tennis star Leylah Fernandez will be representing her country at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and the 2021 US Open runner-up recently spoke on her motivation to succeed at the event.

Fernandez kicked off her professional career on in 2018, and has since left her mark on the WTA Tour. The Montreal native won her first title in 2021, before reaching the US Open final that year. Although she failed to win the Grand Slam title, she announced her presence on tour, reaching a career-high of World No.13 a few months later.

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Competing alongside fellow Canadian athletes drives Fernandez to work harder

Although Fernandez participated at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she was unable to truly experience the moment due to the lack of fans stemming from Cobid-19 restrictions. However, she was able to meet her compatriots from other sports, and spoke on how much the motivated her to do better.

"Tennis is a very solitary sport, we’re always in our bubble," admitted Fernandez in an episode of the Propulsion tennis podcast. "We don’t really have best friends on the tour, because we could be playing against them next week. But at the Olympics, I met a ton of Canadian athletes who were there to compete and win a medal.
"It was really an honor and a pleasure to meet them and I hope to see them again in Paris. It also motivated and inspired me to watch other athletes train, to see their dedication to their sport. I saw that I wasn’t the only one working hard towards my goals.”