Leylah Fernandez adds new coach to her team – ‘Reaching top 10 would be consistent with her potential’

Leylah Fernandez celebrates

Julian Alonso has joined Leylah Fernandez’s coaching set-up and the former world No 30 is excited about the Canadian’s work ethic and potential.

Spanish-American Alonso is currently the coach of Arantxa Rus while he previously also worked with the likes of Sabine Lisicki, Ajla Tomljanovic and Nicolas Almagro.

He will work alongside Fernandez’s father, Jorge Fernandez, while he will also continue his partnership with Rus, although it will no longer be on a full-time basis as he will have an assistant to help with Dutch player.

After working with the 20-year-old Fernandez for only a couple of weeks, Alonso spoke highly of the “tireless” Canadian.

“I go beyond her being good or bad, we are talking about a person with an impeccable work ethic,” the 45-year-old told Punto de Break in an interview.

“If I tell her that at 07:00 we have to train, at 06:40 she is already warming up. She is extremely professional, I have had a very pleasant surprise.

“On the court I have met a soldier, everything you tell her she proves, she is not afraid, she faces everything with great determination. She is tireless, she has a great capacity for suffering and adaptation.”

World No 40 Fernandez is coming off an up and down season as she won the Monterrey Open in March and reached the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open.

She followed it up with a run to the quarter-final of the French Open, but she fractured her foot during her defeat to Martina Trevisan and was forced to miss several months. Although she made her return ahead of the US Open, she struggled to hit peak fitness again.

Alonso is convinced the results will come.

“This season she was injured at Roland Garros, otherwise I’m not sure she would have reached the top 10 before defending the US Open final,” he said. “The good thing is that they are not overwhelmed by the ranking issue, that is what has surprised me the most.

“Her father is convinced that Leylah is in the process of training and that it will take her a while to reach her maximum level. They firmly believe in the process, their confidence goes beyond the results: if we work well, the results will come.”

Fernandez rose to a career-high No 13 on the back of finishing runner-up to Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open and Alonso is convinced she will eventually climb back into the top 10.

“The objective is to finish very high next year, but without obsessing over the numbers. She wants to compete and be among the best, which is normal for someone who has already been in the top 15,” he said.

“After a few months of absence, it is always complicated, the break after Roland Garros hurt her, so now what she wants most is to be competitive again. We haven’t talked about ranking goals, but reaching the top 10 would be consistent with the potential she has.”

READ MORE: Leylah Fernandez just wants her ‘foot to be okay again’ after being left ‘heartbroken’ by injury

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