Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez shared a bit about her friendship with Filipina tennis superstar Alex Eala. During the post-match press conference earlier this week at the National Bank Open in Toronto, she had nothing but good words for her fellow player.
While Leylah represents Canada, she is Filipino by blood through her mother. Her father is Ecuadorian.
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Despite being friends off court, the Canadian player revealed that Alex doesn’t have her number yet–– something she doesn’t give out to everyone.
“She’s a friend. I mean, she’s a nice girl. Unfortunately, I don’t have her number, so it’s weird because I don’t give out my numbers to a lot of people, especially on tour–– they message me on Instagram, and that’s pretty much it,” she explained.
Leylah added that she hasn’t had the time to talk with Alex in Toronto as the latter flew in days before her first match–– fresh from her first-ever WTA tour title in Washington DC.
“She’s a nice girl and I know that she just got here so I haven’t even had the chance to see her–– I only saw her walking on court and I didn’t want to kind of mess up her concentration. So, hopefully we do get the chance to speak off court,” Leylah expressed.
The Canadian tennis player maintained that she is open to giving out restaurant suggestions to the Filipino superstar if ever she asks for one.
“If she needs any help, I’m here,” she assured.
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In the same interview, she expressed how happy she is to see the massive Filipino crowd supporting not only Alex but the rest of the tour. She recalled how she would get support from the Filipino community in different countries in the past.
“I mean the Filipino community is super proud. They’re proud of anybody who comes from the country, who are part-Filipino, and I definitely felt that when I came on to the scene. I mean the fanbase is super amazing, loving, and in any country, any part of the world, you’re gonna see a couple of Filipino flags,” she said.
“It’s a super super loving community and I’m just super happy that we get to experience that here in Toronto where the stands are gonna be filled and we get to play in front of a lot of people and they get to enjoy women’s sports,” she ended.
Leylah is set to go up against world number five, Mirra Andreeva, in the third round of the National Bank Open while Alex will be playing American Caty McNally.