INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Leylah Fernandez’s brief history at the BNP Paribas Open is a snapshot of her meteoric rise in women’s tennis.
The 19-year-old from Montreal comes into the 2022 edition at No. 21 in the rankings, and fresh off a successful defence of her first career WTA title in Monterrey, Mexico.
And after the first-round bye granted to the 32 seeded players (she’s at No. 18), she’ll begin her run in the desert this weekend against either Amanda Anisimova or wild card Emma Navarro, whom she played in the final when she won the Roland Garros junior girls’ event in 2019.
Just three years ago this week, a 16-year-old Fernandez was nowhere near preparing to face the best in the California desert.
Ranked No. 404 in the world, she lost in the first round of qualifying at an entry-level $25,000 tournament halfway around the world in Nishitama, Japan.
Two years ago this week, after a run in two Mexican tournaments raised her ranking to career-best No. 120, she was awarded a wild card into the Indian Wells singles main draw.
It never happened.
The tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 the night before qualifying was to start — the first sign of what turned out to be a five-month tennis stoppage in 2020.
A year ago this week, with Indian Wells postponed, Fernandez won her first career ATP Tour title in Monterrey. But it came behind closed doors.
“They were covering the seats with tarps with the tournament logo. When I won, there was only the volunteers and the ball kids in the stands,” Fernandez said in an interview this week.
Indian Wells was played in October last year, barely a month after Fernandez reached her first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open.
The Canadian arrived in Indian Wells in the top 30, but hadn’t played since those star-making moments in New York.
She lost in the third round to close out her season. Now she’s back again, having achieved yet another first.
Fernandez defended her title in Monterrey last Sunday against a much stronger field than she faced in 2021. She saved five match points in an epic final against Camila Osorio of Colombia, winning 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5).
And this time, it came before a full house.
“It was magical," Fernandez said. "Fans, everybody who understands sport know it’s just like a battlefield. So we're both going at it and they're enjoying it a lot.
"Half the stadium was for me, the other half for her. It had that soccer kind of environment, which I love. It was great to feel that energy, see how everybody's enjoying it. I think that’s why we play sport, just to try to make that happen for everybody.”
Last year, Fernandez only had to defeat one top-100 player to win, and didn’t drop a set in five matches.
This year, she faced only one player outside the top 100. The Canadian had escaped another third-set tiebreak earlier in the week, against fellow 19-year-old Zheng Qinwen of China in the second round.
Fernandez defended the title despite not having played since a shocking straight-set, first-round exit at the Australian Open at the hands of wild card Maddison Inglis. She came in with just three matches in all of 2022.
“It was nerve-racking, because I know a lot of the players had gotten a lot of matches under their belt. They played a lot more tournaments. So it was more trying to get used to the tempo once again,” Fernandez said.
The key was to turn the page on Australia. Quickly.
“I think it was just one of those tournaments that didn’t go — at all — well. Every athlete goes through that kind of phase. And I just had to take a step back and see what I did do wrong,” Fernandez said. “Everything just went south. It just didn’t go according to plan.”
Fernandez took a few days, got her mind completely off tennis, and got back to training once she was ready.
There was brief discussion of going to the tournaments in Dubai and Doha in February to get more matches. But in the end, she and coach/father Jorge decided to stick with the original plan.
Fernandez kicked off her Indian Wells with a double loss along with French partner Alizé Cornet to the team of Samantha Stosur and Shuai Zhang on Thursday.
The expectations going in remain the same.
“Just taking one match at a time, not be thinking about any results,” she said. “Have fun on the court, and hopefully, there will be a nice little pattern.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2022.
Stephanie Myles, The Canadian Press
