Leylah Fernandez wore Federer-backed On shoes up until recently when she switched to basketball shoes and she explained why in a recent interview.
Lelyah Fernandez broke out in a major way at the 2021 US Open when she made it to the final losing to Emma Raducanu. The Canadian failed to live up to that level after that run mostly due to injuries which plagued her for a long time.
She's back to playing some solid tennis lately, going deep in Guadalajara and nearly besting in-form Sofia Kenin for a spot in the semi-finals. Some wondered whether her recent surge had something to do with her sho change as she's not wearing the Federer-backed On anymore but rather basketball shoes.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions and comments about that. Yes I am (wearing basketball shoes), I’m wearing Puma Stewie 2 and they feel super comfortable. They actually look a lot like tennis shoes—that’s actually where I saw them.
I saw it close to the tennis shoes and it looked like a tennis shoe, and I’m like, Ah, let me try this out. The clerk just told me, No, it’s basketball shoes. And then, some funny statement my dad made… He said why not just try it out on the tennis court? I’m like, yeah I’ll do it! Let me buy it and let’s try it out. And I fell in love with it.
It's unlikely that her rise recently has to do with the shoes though we've seen players peforme better in different models. It's unlikely but not impossible especially since she's enjoying it quite a bit.
So far it’s been going super well. I’m feeling great on court. I love the shoes, I love the colors. It matches super well with the Lululemon outfit. I’m super happy that I get to experiment on a couple of things.
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