As well as learning to drive and working towards graduating high school during this period of shutdown, Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez is also studying a host of sporting icons who, at first glance, have little in common. 

But there is a very distinct reason why rising star Fernandez is spending time analysing the likes of Lionel Messi, Mike Tyson, Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky, Isaiah Thomas, Pele and Floyd Mayweather.

“I want to earn my place on the Tour and be considered a champion,” Fernandez told itftennis.com. “I love tennis and I really believe that I am a competitor. I feel having those characteristics will help me get there.

“I also focus on having great tennis IQ, believing in my style and using other players in different sports as motivation. I am not as big as the other female players on Tour so I assume there have been times when I’ve been underestimated.

“My father [and coach Jorge Fernandez] insists I study players from different sports in order to understand that my stature is perfect for my personality and skills. I look into their creativity, uniqueness, use of angles, speed, aggressive defence and the fluidity of their movements.”

If this falls within the category of marginal gains then it has been working a treat for the 17-year-old, who was enjoying a blistering start to the 2020 season before seeing her progress halted by the COVID-19 virus.

In the opening months of the campaign, Fernandez reached the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, overcame then-world No. 5 Belinda Bencic, contested her maiden Tour-level final, beat former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and shaved close to 100 places off her world ranking.

While all hugely significant, navigating qualifying at January’s Australian Open and competing in the opening round of a major was a poignant moment for the Montreal-born left-hander, who 12 months earlier had lost the girls’ final to Denmark’s Clara Tauson on Rod Laver Arena.

“It was such a great moment for me, especially to start off the year that way,” said world No. 118 Fernandez. “It helped put all of my goals for the rest of the year into play. I remember trying to stay calm and focused and take it moment by moment.

“It seemed like a dream because I’d been waiting for this since I was a very little girl and I went to the Rogers Cup with my family. It was special and for the first time I was able to tell my dad that I was there as a professional and not a junior or fan. It was a great feeling.”

There was plenty more to come, although it was the defeat of Switzerland's Bencic in February, which fired Canada back into contention for a place in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals, which sent shockwaves around the globe and enhanced Fernandez’s burgeoning reputation.

“This was a very special moment and experience for me,” she added. “This was my second time playing on the Fed Cup team, so having the chance to really bond with some of the best women on the Tour was incredible.

“The victory over Bencic really gave me the confidence that I can play at the level of a Top 5 player. I have a lot of goals for my future and career and I’d like to continue to compete at the Top 5 and Top 10 skill level and defeat those types of players during tournament weeks.

“Just answering these questions makes me relive the last few months all over again. It was a very rewarding period and I’m very proud of the hard work I have put in to get those results. Hopefully when the season picks up again, I will continue to have great results.”

Whether fighting for Fed Cup glory on behalf of her country or having her nation’s flag accompany her name at whichever tournament she is competing at, Fernandez, who was crowned Roland Garros girls’ champion in 2019, revels in her Canadian heritage.

This was epitomised during the trophy presentation following the 2019 Australian Open girls’ final when she was inadvertently introduced as being American, something she swiftly corrected as part of her runner-up speech.

But more than a mere association, Fernandez is part of the latest tranche of emerging Canadian talent, following in the footsteps of Bianca Andreescu, Gabriela Dabrowski, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“I am so proud to be a Canadian,” said English, French and Spanish speaker Fernandez. “Tennis Canada is an amazing federation that really believes in my future and I am surrounded by some Canadian champions. It’s amazing to see my name next to theirs.

“There is a lot of attention and buzz around this new wave of Canadian talent. It’s been very inspiring to see the successes we’ve all had on the court and to represent our country while doing it.

“It’s awesome because I remember seeing them train while I was on court. They are older but we were all very young and I love what we have achieved and our promise to achieve much more.”

The mere fact that Fernandez is talking in such terms reinforces her rate of progress. Only 18 months ago she was conducting a magnanimous interview after finishing fifth, a position boosted by the withdrawal of two co-competitors, at the ITF Junior Finals in Chengdu, where she contested an exhibition match with two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na.

The ITF Junior Finals bring together the cream of the junior crop and, while only a small sample size, one assumption might have been that the girls finishing ahead of her in China were better placed to make their presence felt in the professional ranks. That theory would be incorrect.

“With tennis being an individual sport, mental tenacity is so important to have and maintain,” added Fernandez. “In the last few years, months even, during my transition to the WTA Tour, I have spent a lot of time building my on-court confidence and mental and physical strength.

“I have also had a very deep belief in myself to achieve my goals. My dad has always made me believe in myself and not to be afraid to fail doing what I love.”

Her ability to overcome doubts and manage circumstances is a recurring theme of Fernandez’s replies, while the aforementioned mental tenacity is one of four qualities the teenager lists when asked to assess herself as a player.

The ability to never give up, hunger to succeed and physical fitness are the others, all of which will be required as she bids to continue her upward trajectory once the sporting calendar resumes following the coronavirus pandemic. For now, a rejigged and family-orientated training schedule is the priority.

“It has not been easy and my dad has had to adjust the programme,” said Fernandez. “We have cut our on-court training hours by half and fitness has been re-arranged as well. We want to make sure that we don’t burn out too quickly and that we're at full speed when the season restarts.

“I am very lucky that I have a great team and my sister, Bianca, can hit with me. So even though we are supposed to hit with a little less intensity, our sisterly rivalry kicks in and we go all out.”

It would appear a fair assumption that Fernandez will be going all out for some years to come.