VIDEO: Leylah Fernandez’s father under fire over aggressive coaching during match

Shahida Jacobs
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Pictured: Leylah Fernandez in action
Leylah Fernandez in action

Leylah Fernandez’s father and coach has again come in for strong criticism for the way he talked to his daughter during her defeat to Victoria Mboko in Strasbourg.

The two Canadians faced each other in the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 event in France earlier this week and it was the 19-year-old Mboko who came away with a 6-4, 6-4 win in one hour and 31 minutes.

Mboko dominated early on as she opened a 5-1 lead in the first set, but Fernandez managed to fight back as she got one of the service breaks back to reduce the deficit to 5-4 before her compatriot served out the set.

During the changeover, Fernandez’s father, Jorge, had strong words with the world No 24 as he rebuked her for not doing more to put her opponent under pressure with the video circulating on social media.

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“She’s the one who works the split step, hits the balls down the line and rushes you. She’s got that style of play…,” he said. “You are playing with fear and you don’t want to admit it. You try to attack the ball and [inaudible].

“How many times do they have to hit those shots in your face for you to wake up? How many? Out, out, out, out, at the net out and I have to tell you to work the ball.

“You have to establish your game, impose your game by working the ball, staying low, more spin, more spin.

“You have so many open down the line shots and you throw them all away, you throw them all away, you don’t want to listen.

“The slice, you hit a good slice and then don’t do anything else, the point she lost was over there, the ball was this high. From a good slice, you don’t hit another slice again.”

Fernandez peaked at No 13 in the WTA Rankings in 2022 with that coming on the back of her run to the final of the 2021 US Open when she finished runner-up to Emma Raducanu.

She also reached the quarter-final of the 2022 French Open, but has failed to make it past the third round of a Grand Slam since then.

The 23-year-old has won five WTA Tour singles titles with the last coming in October 2025 at the Japan Women’s Open.

Mboko, meanwhile, is considered one of the hottest prospects in women’s tennis and currently sits at No 9 in the rankings. She has won two titles with the biggest coming at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open last August.

Jorge Fernandez, who has been criticised on social media for his coaching methods, added: “Do you want to play tennis or not? It’s not more complicated than that.

“This girl is a top-10 player, solid, solid, she makes quarter-finals of Grand Slams, something you haven’t done in the last four years. If you want to get back to that level, you have to get the points, keep your head and have confidence, accelerate everything more.”

It is not the first time Jorge has come under fire as former world No 7 Barbara Schett also raised questions about his behaviour in February 2025 stating, “the way he treats his daughter is insane”.

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