SINGAPORE – Before each point in her match against Maja Chwalinska on Sept 26, whether she was 5-0 down or serving for the match, Leylah Fernandez would turn to look at the advertisement boards for a few seconds.
Sometimes she would pump her fist, other times she would whisper to herself as she tried to hype herself up.
“Let’s go, let’s work, you can do it,” she would mutter, although some of what she said was not suitable for public consumption.
And the habit worked wonders as the Canadian world No. 31 rallied from a set down to prevail 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 over the Polish world No. 25 and reach the final of the Singapore Tennis Open presented by BNP Paribas.
“If there was a microphone in my brain, there would be a lot of beeps because there are a lot of swear words that go in and out,” she said with a laugh after the 2hr 8min semi-final at The Kallang’s OCBC Arena.
“Sometimes it’s ‘it’s okay, you lost the point but you fought for it, keep going, keep running’.
“Those phrases helped me get through and not dwell too much on the mistakes or on winners. At the end of the match, when I hit a backhand winner, it definitely felt very good and it relieved me a little bit too.”
Roland Garros finalist Chwalinska, 24, admitted she was disappointed by the loss, but can take heart from her improved showing after injuring her ankle at Wimbledon in July.
She said: “Leylah is a great player and she deserved to win. She played much better at the end of the second set, and then she kept her momentum going into the third.
“I played solid tennis throughout the whole week. Every player is dangerous here, so I had to play really well to win every match.
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