Leylah Fernandez: I Have a New Tennis Idol By Lonnie Mitchel

Leylah Fernandez… I Have a New Idol

By Lonnie Mitchel

Chris 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 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 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

would pay much attention to unless you were looking for it.

Six years ago, my men's tennis team at SUNY Oneonta graduated a young man named Ben Leighton, who had aspirations of becoming a tennis coach, and wanted to help influence some of the up and comers reach their dreams and goals. Whether becoming a good high school player, a collegiate athlete or the professional who can be successful on the pro tour, he just wanted to be in the game. That same guy who graduated from a Division III school with good tennis credentials was wearing that SUNY Oneonta Tennis hat and sitting in the coaching box of Leylah Fernandez.

The CORE 4 are elements that I have identified over the years through my coaching experience. This coach who I now see in the coaching box took those lessons on the road and Leylah adopted it vis-a-vis my former player. What a defining moment for me. I did not need to be validated as to the success one can have on the tennis court or even life by embracing this philosophy, but it was pretty damn good to see it work at the highest level possible.

Whatever a coach says might not get into the players head right away. This teaching often lies dormant and somewhere down the line it will pay dividends as it did for this young successful coach. Many of my players come back to me years later and just shout out the CORE 4...what a nice thing for a coach to hear. For the tennis players out there, whether it be recreational, collegians or professional, take some elements of this and put it into your game and everyday activities. If you do, I like your chances for long-term success. I close out the article with something I teach in my sales and marketing class as an adjunct lecturer. Tell your students, customers, or audience what you are going to say, say it, and then tell them what you just said over and over. My players often tell me I repeat things, and sometimes I think maybe they start to tune me out. However, that does not seem to be the case after all. To this young coach who now spends time with Leylah, I told him about the CORE 4, I repeated the philosophy and I said at the end, remember this as after you graduate. The CORE 4 lives, and had some small role in getting Leylah to the finals of the US Open.

Lonnie Mitchel is head men’s and women’s tennis coach at SUNY Oneonta. Lonnie was named an assistant coach to Team USA for the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel for the Grand Master Tennis Division. Lonnie may be reached by phone at (516) 414-7202 or email lonniemitchel@yahoo.com.

Congratulations Giuliana Olmos and Marcelo Arevalo on your US Open Tennis 2021 Mixed Doubles Final

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