Leylah Fernandez Forehand

Analyzed by John Yandell

Leylah Fernandez's straight arm forehand.

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.

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John Yandell is widely acknowledged as one of the leading videographers and students of the modern game of professional tennis. His high speed filming for Advanced Tennis and Tennisplayer have provided new visual resources that have changed the way the game is studied and understood by both players and coaches. He has done personal video analysis for hundreds of high level competitive players, including Justine Henin-Hardenne, Taylor Dent and John McEnroe, among others.

In addition to his role as Editor of Tennisplayer he is the author of the critically acclaimed book Visual Tennis. The John Yandell Tennis School is located in San Francisco, California.

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