Leylah Fernandez names Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz among players who excite her the most
Leylah Fernandez has named which tennis players thrill her the most on tour, listing Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz as standouts.
After lackluster results during the recent Middle East Swing, with a quarterfinal finish at the Qatar Open and a second-round exit at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Fernandez is poised to commence her search for her first championship of the season at the 2024 San Diego Open.
Ahead of her tournament debut at the WTA 500 event, Leylah Fernandez was asked to list her favorite players to follow across both the ATP and WTA tours.
However, the Canadian hesitated to name the WTA players she enjoyed watching, confessing that she studied her teammates’ matches with a more analytical eye to garner information on how to face them rather than for fun.I don’t know. It’s a bit challenging because I’m watching tennis with kind of like a rivals eye, so not really much as a fan. So, sometimes when I watch tennis, I’m watching it to evaluate each person’s game, my game, to see what I can do against them so it’s a little tricky right now to tell which player gets me interested to keep watching, Leylah Fernandez said.
In contrast, Fernandez found it easy to select the players that fascinated her the most on the men’s tour, instantly mentioning Carlos Alcaraz for his intensity and varied playing style.
But on the men’s side, that’s a little bit simpler since I’m not going to be playing against them. It’s always wonderful to see [Carlos] Alcaraz play, how he brings the intensity, the variation he provides his opponents, she remarked.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both earned positions on the Canadian’s list, with the 21-year-old expressing particular appreciation for Murray’s tenacious fighting mentality.
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 continues fighting and finding a way, like it’s always exciting to see what he does next, she continued.
Rounding out her list, Leylah Fernandez named Alexander Bublik for his crazy on-court antics.
And of course there is [Alexander] Bublik, he always does some weird stuff on court. He constantly makes it in the highlight reel every year so watching him is always entertaining, he always gives a grin to my face, she continued.
