THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started. Leylah, can we have your thoughts on playing in front of the Canadian crowd once again?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah. It's exciting. I'm happy to be here in Toronto. I get to see some friends, family. And then also playing in front of a Canadian crowd always feels good. They always show up for the Canadian players. Hopefully, when I play they can come and support us. Finally, I get the opportunity also to play with my sister again, so that's always fun.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, questions?
Q. Your new coaching association with Eric Hechtman, who has worked with your former doubles partner, Venus Williams before, and Serena as well, why specifically did you choose to work with him, and what are you hoping that he can add to your game right now?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah, I mean, it's been a few years that my dad and I, we've been talking about adding another coach to help out, to share the weeks with him. The first reason was because my dad also has other projects. He also wants to help out my sister a little bit more, and then another player, Jaden, so he can't be in three places all at once. We've been patient, we've been looking, we've been kind of talking with different coaches, seeing which one would be the right fit. Speaking with Eric, we liked how his mentality and the game style seems to align a lot with our mentality and game style. I feel like with his experience and how he has worked with the Williams sisters and with different players, have brought them up in the rankings in a short amount of time, and seem to have helped them improve on court, I feel like it can help me. Then, as I said, it also can help my dad with sharing the weeks.
Q. Is this kind of new for your dad? Is it easy for him to short of share the reins? How does that relationship continue to work with a new voice in there as well?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: That's a question to ask him, but for myself I feel like my dad will be taking a step away, will be kind of consulting, helping, it's going to be a partnership between all three of us. What I like so far what I see is that they both have a good relationship, they talk a lot, they seem to be communicating well. That also helps me on court where I can hear what Eric is telling me, and then also hear what my dad is telling me, and there's like no disagreements or anything that goes against with what either of them are saying because they seem to be getting along well.
Q. You're going to be teaming up with Frances Tiafoe at the US Open mixed doubles. Curious, how has your relationship with him grown over the years, because I know you got guys are both Lululemon ambassadors, and what were your first impressions from afar of the mixed doubles last year?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Yeah, it's a little bit weird that the lights went out, but that's okay (laughing). Yeah, no, with Frances, our relationship has always been kind of a sibling relationship. He's so funny. He always makes me laugh. He's a great guy, great tennis player too. He puts in the work. We've always kind of talked about maybe we could play mixed doubles, but sometimes kind of in a joking manner for both of us because we're always so focused on singles. We saw that the US Open was an opportunity for both of us. Unfortunately, his last partner got injured, so she couldn't play. But I'm just happy that he said yes to me, and hopefully we can do well in the tournament.
Q. You've done so much for Canadian tennis, winning the BJKC title for Canada, you're also a two-time Olympian, but what would winning the NBO mean to you?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: Oh, it would be probably one of the biggest titles, best memory, best tournament. It's where I grew up, it's a tournament that I first watched growing up as a young kid, so it would mean a lot. It's up there in my goals and dreams. I always want to win a Grand Slam, be number one in the world, but winning also the NBO is a special occasion where not many people, athletes, can say that, not only they played their favorite sport, but they get to play at home and then also get to win a title at home. So just having the opportunity to be here is a great gift, and hopefully winning the tournament will be an even bigger blessing.
Q. It's approaching a year since you and Venus played the US Open in the doubles. When you look back to that experience, how do you think that whole experience playing with her, the crowds there, just helped you just in your overall game development as a player?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: I think it's mainly the mentality and the belief in one's self. I mean, Venus, her mindset, her mental strength is through the roof. Playing with her, seeing how she thinks, how she kind of refocuses after a mistake, and then the self belief that she has after a mistake she makes or a bad point. She always goes back and tries to do it again, and more times than not, it's successful. So her mindset is of a true professional, and that is also why she's a legend. She's won multiple Grand Slams, multiple singles titles, doubles titles, so she's a legend. That's what I learned from her, and that is something that I'm working on a lot for the past year, and it's something that I truly believe that young, aspiring kids should also work on is not only technique, but it's also the mental strength.
Q. Wondering, in your experience as a pro tennis player, what are the pros and cons of being on social media? What's your experience been like over the years?
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ: (Laughing). Oh, my. So this is funny, because, growing up, I didn't really have social media at my disposal. I was also, Okay, let's go outside, let's play. I want to be a tennis player. Then, as I got into the professional scene, social media was a way to promote one's self. So that's a pro, you get to promote your brand, yourself, show the fans a little bit more about who you are off the court, on the court, what type of person that you are and that you want to be.
The con of it is that social media is open to everybody. You get to see different opinions from different people. My dad said, like, back then, because social media wasn't there, the opinions would kind of stay amongst themselves, and the professionals would be kind of more times than not separated from that. Of course, you're going to see it in the newspaper and on TV and in the news, but it's a little bit limited. But with social media, everybody's on it, everybody can tweet whatever they want. They can tweet something positive, they can tweet something negative, they can tweet threatening messages, it can be anything that they want, and more times than not there will be no consequences, because you can't find them, so there's that. But it's something that we navigate, it's something that's part of life.
In my opinion, I feel like it's something that the organizations, the apps, the companies, need to do better to protect the players, the young players too, because it can be a scary world. But it's also, for me, as I said, it's also a way to promote one's self. So you got to see it in the good and in the bad and you got to accept it. If you're willing to accept that, then it's okay. But if you're not, then there's a difficulty.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports