Leylah Fernandez… I Have a New Idol By Lonnie Mitchel
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hris Evert was my idol growing up as a young tennis player in New York. I loved Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg so I will give them an honorable mention also. Chris had it all for me as she was the darling of American female tennis in the 1970's and as a teenager, I admit, I had a crush on her. However, as an athlete she embodied everything that I often talk about with my collegiate players and my students. I place on my office door a sign that indicates four components I title the CORE 4. They are: • Consistency • Focus • Footwork/body language • Poise If you possess these four components as a skilled tennis player I believe you are complete and have a very good chance of winning on the tennis court. My 60
student-athletes cannot even walk on the court at the beginning of the season without reciting the CORE 4. I put such a great emphasis on this philosophy. For me, Evert had it all and if you watched her compete it was as if she was the perfect “CORE 4er”. As a champion she gave away very little in the CORE 4 philosophy and the results showed it, to the tune of 18 Slam singles titles. She was also one half of what is considered by many to be the greatest rivalry in tennis with Martina Navratilova. Evert was perhaps the best ever at being mentally tough! No cracks in
New York Tennis Magazine • November/December 2021 • NYTennisMag.com
the armor that is her mental game; she never got rattled! Fast-forward 30 years and now comes this new teenage tennis sensation named Leylah Fernandez. Since Evert, there have been greats such as Steffi Graf, Serena Williams and many other great champions, but Leylah had something about her that I just loved as she made her way to the finals of the U.S. Open. Match after match she handled so much adversity, yet remained poised, focused and engaged in every match. She has the qualities that many champions’ posses, and I also believe she will have what it takes to be a future champion in our sport. The CORE 4, though, takes a very special front seat in this little tennis infatuation I have for Leylah. She has a team of coaches much like the best professionals, but if you looked closely at her coaching box, one of her coaches wore a distinct red hat with the SUNY Oneonta Tennis logo on it. This is not something you
