Leylah Fernandez has revealed her current favourite players in tennis and while the names are not too surprising, she made some interesting comments about why she likes watching these players.
Ahead of her return to action at the San Diego Open, the 2021 US Open runner-up took part in a media day and was asked about her favourite players on both the ATP and WTA Tours and she unsurprisingly named 24-time Grand Slam winner and all-time great Novak Djokovic as well as two-time major champion and rising star Carlos Alcaraz.
Andy Murray also made the cut and the Canadian was particularly impressed with the way the former world No 1 has dealt with the ups and downs over the past few years as she added he is always “entertaining”.
Meanwhile, the mercurial Alexander Bublik also got the nod for being a “highlight reel” every single year due to his ability to often do something “crazy” like play a point with the handle of his racket or hitting tweeners at unexpected moments.
World No 32 Fernandez initially admitted that it is difficult to select any of her WTA rivals as she always ends up “studying” them before going on to name the ATP stars she likes watching.
“I don’t know. It’s a little hard because I’m watching tennis with kind of like a competitor’s eye, so not really much as a fan,” she explained. “So, sometimes when I watch tennis, I’m watching it to analyse each player’s game, my game, to see what I can do against them so it’s a little hard right now to say which player gets me excited to keep watching.
“But on the men’s side, that’s a little bit easier because I’m not going to be playing against them. It’s always exciting to watch Alcaraz play, how he brings the intensity, the variation he gives his opponents.
“And then also Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Andy Murray has gone through so much the last couple of years and the way that he just keeps fighting and finding a way, like it’s always entertaining to see what he does next.
“And of course there is Bublik, he always does some crazy stuff on court. He always makes it in the highlight reel every year so watching him is always entertaining, he always brings a smile to my face.”