A School Teacher Once Told Leylah Fernandez She’d Never Make it in Tennis. And It Only Fueled Her Fire
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday September 10, 2021It’s good to listen to your teachers in school – but not always.Case in point? Leylah Fernandez shared a perfect example of when not to listen to a teacher on Thursday night after reaching the US Open final.After her win Fernandez talked about giving her blood and sweat the sport of tennis, and she was asked to elaborate on that during her post-match press conference. That’s when she told the story of the teacher that doubted her.
Fernandez: “A teacher told me to stop playing tennis, you'll never make it, just focus on school."I'm glad she told me that b/c every day I have that phrase in my head saying: I'm going to keep going, push through, prove to her everything I've dreamed of I'm going to achieve."
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) September 10, 2021
“I think the obvious one is that a lot of people doubted me, my family and my dreams,” she said. “They kept saying no, that I'm not going to be a professional tennis player, that I should stop and just pursue going to school. I remember one teacher, which was actually very funny – at the time wasn't, but now I'm laughing. She told me to stop playing tennis, you will never make it, and just focus on school.“You know what, I'm just glad that she told me that because every day I have that phrase in my head saying that I'm going to keep going, I'm going to push through, and I'm going to prove to her everything that I've dreamed of I'm going to achieve them.” ]]>
