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Leylah Fernandez’s forehand! Could it be any different from our study of Daniil Medvedev’s last month? (Click Here.)
You might think Medvedev looks more WTA, and Leylay more ATP. That’s how crazy and diversified strokes can be on the tour.
When we look at Leylah’s forehand the first thing that is overwhelming obvious is that she hits with a straight arm. Really totally straight.
There are probably others but only other WTA player I have studied who has that straight arm is Ash Barty (Click Here.) So let’s go through it element by element. Leylah is a lefty, but all the key points apply.
Grip
Leylah has a relatively mild semi-western grip. Her index knuckle is on bevel 4. Her heal pad though looks squarely on bevel 3, or aligned behind the racket face. It’s probably close to Andre Agassi, slightly stronger that Roger Federer, but clearly less extreme than Nadal or Djokovic.
Unit Turn
Leylah has a great, strong unit turn. She slides her opposite hand up the throat of the racket. Then she keeps that hand on the throat until her racket is in the center of her torso.
Then she stretches her opposite arm all the way…