Leylah Fernandez seized her year on Tuesday by winning the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year.
The 19-year-old teenager is the sixth tennis player to win the award since its creation in 1932, joining Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1985), Helen Kelesi (1989, 1990), Aleksandra Wozniak (2009), Eugenie Bouchard (2013, 2014) and Bianca Andreescu (2019).
Fernandez shocked defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round and knocked out other big names like Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the final.
“I was very, very proud of myself, how I was able to be composed and how I was able to step up in those important moments so I could get through the finish line,” Fernandez said.
“I saw tennis on TV and I saw the success, the joy that the players passed on to the fans. I saw so many great opportunities to have fun instead of pursuing other professions.” she added.
Fernandez is not among the tallest tennis players on the court. Learning to work on her physique to counteract the power of bigger players was one of the main points of her development.
She is inspired by similarly sized tennis players like Justine Henin, whom she met watching videos on the internet. The Belgian, who was number 1 in the world for 117 weeks and won seven Grand Slam titles, became one of the Canadian references in the sport.
“My father insists that I study players from different sports to understand that my stature is perfect for my personality and my abilities. I observe their creativity, uniqueness, use of angles, speed, aggressiveness and fluidity of movement.” Fernandez said.
The Bobbie Rosenfeld Award is presented annually by the Canadian press, as voted on by sports editors across the country. The name is a tribute to athletics star Bobbie Rosenfeld, who was voted Canada’s best female athlete in 1950.
