Leylah Fernandez
Fernandez at the 2023 Washington Open
Full nameLeylah Annie Fernandez
Country (sports) Canada
ResidenceBoynton Beach, Florida, U.S.[1]
Born (2002-09-06) 6 September 2002 (age 21)
Montreal, Canada
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro2019
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachJulian Alonso, Jorge Fernandez (her father)
Prize money$4,748,948
Singles
Career record173–112 (60.7%)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 13 (8 August 2022)
Current rankingNo. 34 (1 April 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2023, 2024)
French OpenQF (2022)
Wimbledon2R (2023)
US OpenF (2021)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2021)
Doubles
Career record66–47 (58.4%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 17 (23 October 2023)
Current rankingNo. 28 (8 April 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2021)
French OpenF (2023)
Wimbledon2R (2023)
US OpenQF (2023)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon2R (2023)
US OpenQF (2022)
Team competitions
BJK CupW (2023), record 16–3
Last updated on: 23 January 2024.

Leylah Annie Fernandez (born 6 September 2002)[1] is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 8 August 2022. Her best doubles ranking is No. 17, achieved on 23 October 2023. Fernandez won her first WTA Tour title at the 2021 Monterrey Open. As a 19-year-old, she finished runner-up at the 2021 US Open to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu, defeating three top-5 players en route to the final (including defending champion Naomi Osaka).

Fernandez played a pivotal role in Canada's first-ever Billie Jean King Cup win in 2023.

Early life

Fernandez was born in Montreal, Quebec.[1] She attended École secondaire Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry. Her father Jorge is from Ecuador and is a former football player. Her mother Irene (née Exevea) is a Filipino Canadian.[2] Her younger sister Bianca is also a tennis player.[3]

Juniors

On 25 January 2019, as a 16-year old, Fernandez entered the Australian Open girls' singles final, where she lost to the top-seeded Clara Tauson.[4] On 8 June 2019, Fernandez defeated Emma Navarro in the French Open final to become the first Canadian female winner of a junior Grand Slam title since Eugenie Bouchard at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships,[3] a victory that earned her the world No. 1 junior ranking.[5]

Professional career

2019: Professional debut

On 21 July 2019, Fernandez won her first professional singles tennis title when she rallied to beat fellow Canadian Carson Branstine in the final of the Gatineau Challenger. Fernandez also won her first professional doubles title on the same date when she teamed with Rebecca Marino of Vancouver. The pair defeated the second-seeded team of Marcela Zacarías of Mexico and Hsu Chieh-yu of Taiwan.[6] The following week, she made her second consecutive ITF final in Granby,[7] losing to Lizette Cabrera of Australia.

2020: Grand Slam debut, first final on WTA Tour

Fernandez made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. After qualifying, she lost in the first round to Lauren Davis.[8]

She achieved the biggest win of her career the following week in the 2020 Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round against world No. 5, Belinda Bencic.[9]

In late February, at the Mexican Open, she qualified and reached her first WTA Tour career final, where, after winning 12 sets in a row, she was defeated by world No. 69, Heather Watson. A week later, she upset Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens to reach the quarterfinals of the Monterrey Open, losing to the eventual champion, Elina Svitolina.

In October at the French Open, Fernandez reached the third round, first by upsetting 31st seed Magda Linette in the opening round, and then defeating Polona Hercog before losing to Petra Kvitová, in straight sets.

2021: First WTA Tour title & US Open final

Fernandez began 2021 without consecutive wins in her first four tournaments. However, in March at the Monterrey Open, she won her first four matches to reach the final, defeating Viktorija Golubic to win the first WTA title of her career. At 18 years old, she was the youngest player in the main draw, and won without dropping a set during the tournament.[10][11]

At the US Open, Fernandez became a fan favorite due to her success as an underdog.[12][13] She defeated the third seed and defending champion, Naomi Osaka, in three sets in the third round,[14] former world-number-one and three-time major champion, Angelique Kerber, in the fourth round, in three sets,[15] and fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, again in three sets, to reach her maiden major semifinal a day after her 19th birthday. She then defeated Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, to reach her first major final[16] and also the first player born in 2002 to reach such a final. It was the third time in the Open Era that a woman defeated three of the top five seeds at the US Open.[citation needed] In the final, she lost to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu in straight sets.[17]

Fernandez at the 2021 French Open

Fernandez then made her Indian Wells Open debut as the 23rd seed. She first beat Alizé Cornet in the second round and French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third, before suffering an upset in round four by Shelby Rogers.

At the end of the year, Fernandez was given the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award by the Canadian Press as its choice for Canadian female athlete of 2021.[18]

2022: Monterrey title, WTA 1000 doubles semifinal

Fernandez started the season at the Adelaide International. She advanced to the round of 16, in which she was defeated by Iga Świątek, in straight sets.[19] She lost to Maddison Inglis in the opening round of the Australian Open as the 23rd seed.[20]

In March, Fernandez defended her Monterrey Open title, reaching her fourth final and winning her second WTA title. Beating Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, Zheng Qinwen, Wang Qiang and Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the final, Fernandez won against Camila Osorio in three sets, saving five championship points in the final set.[21][22] She also entered the doubles competition with her sister, Bianca Fernandez. They lost in the first round to Elixane Lechemia and Ingrid Neel.[23]

Fernandez subsequently entered the Indian Wells Open. Receiving a bye in the first round, she advanced to round three after a retirement from Amanda Anisimova. In her third-round match, she won the second-set tiebreak and defeated Shelby Rogers in three sets, before she lost to defending champion Paula Badosa in the fourth.[24] In the doubles competition, partnering with Alizé Cornet, the pair reached semifinals, losing there to eventual champions Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.[25]

In May, at the French Open, Fernandez beat Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and 2019 French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova in the third and fourth rounds respectively, before losing to Martina Trevisan in the quarterfinals.[26]

A Grade-III-fractured foot acquired during her quarterfinal match with Trevisan forced her to miss Wimbledon, after a first-round exit the previous year to Jeļena Ostapenko.

At the Canadian Open, Fernandez lost in the second round to eventual finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia.[27] At the Cincinnati Open, she lost in the first round to Ekaterina Alexandrova.[28]

Fernandez entered the US Open seeded 14th. In her opening round, she defeated Océane Dodin, before losing to Liudmila Samsonova in the second. With the loss of most of her points from reaching the final last year, Fernandez is set to fall outside of the top 30.[29] In the doubles draw, pairing with Daria Saville, she reached the second round, and with Jack Sock in the mixed doubles the quarterfinals.[30][31]

2023: French Open final, top 20 in doubles, BJK Cup win

Fernandez embraces doubles partner Taylor Townsend at the 2023 French Open, where they reached their first Grand Slam doubles final

Fernandez started the season by reaching the quarterfinals at the Auckland Open.[32] At the Australian Open, she won her first-round match against Alizé Cornet. In the second round, she lost to world No. 4, Caroline Garcia, in a hard-fought match, having set points in both sets.[33]

At the Miami Open in the doubles competition, partnering with Taylor Townsend, they reached the final where they lost to American No. 1 duo Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. As a result, she moved up 40 positions to a new career-high of No. 42 in the doubles rankings, and later in beginning of May to No. 36.

At the French Open in singles, she reached the second round but lost to Clara Tauson.[34] At the same tournament, in doubles, she reached her first major doubles final alongside Taylor Townsend.[35] As a result, she moved into the top 20 in the doubles rankings, on 21 August 2023. At Wimbledon, Fernandez lost in the second round to Garcia after a third-set tiebreak. With Townsend, she again lost to Garcia and her partner Luisa Stefani in the second round of the women's doubles, and partnered with Wesley Koolhof in the mixed doubles, losing in the second round.

Fernandez had mixed results during the US Open swing. She lost to Maria Sakkari in the second round of Citi Open, and scored a win against 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round of the Canadian Open, before losing to Danielle Collins.[36] After failing to qualify for the Cincinnati Masters, Fernandez reached the quarterfinals of Tennis in the Land. Fernandez was knocked out of the US Open in the first round by Ekaterina Alexandrova,[37] but again with Townsend, reached the quarterfinal of the women's doubles, losing to eventual champions Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski.

Fernandez showed better results post US Open swing. She reached her first WTA 1000 singles quarterfinal at the Guadalajara Open, losing to Sofia Kenin. At the same tournament, she also made the quarterfinals in doubles with Townsend.[38]

At the beginning of the Asian swing, Fernandez failed to qualify for the China Open, but won her first title since February 2022 at the Hong Kong Open, defeating Victoria Azarenka, Mirra Andreeva, Linda Fruhvirtová, Anna Blinkova and Kateřina Siniaková.[39] With her title, she reentered the top 50 at No. 43 for the first time since she dropped her Roland Garros quarterfinal points in May.[40] At the next Asian tournament, the Jiangxi Open, she lost this time to Siniaková in the semifinals. She climbed back to the top 35 in the singles rankings and set a new career-high in doubles of No. 17, on 23 October 2023.

Fernandez led the Canadian team to victory at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, winning her four singles matches and one doubles match, and defeating her first top ten opponent (Markéta Vondroušová) since the 2021 US Open.[41] This was Canada's first ever Cup win, immediately hailed as a major moment in the history of Canadian tennis, and Fernandez was widely singled out for praise for her contributions.[42][43][44] She said that the achievement "means the world to me," adding that it "gives me a lot of confidence, but also the group of girls and Canada a lot of confidence."[42] Fernandez won the Heart Award for both the Qualifiers and the Finals, becoming only the second player in history to win the award twice in one season.[45]

Personal life

Fernandez is a fan of football teams Real Madrid and Manchester City.[46] She speaks fluent English, French and Spanish.[47] She is studying business at Indiana University East, which has partnership with the Women's Tennis Association and the Women’s Tennis Benefits Association that enables players to pursue online bachelor's degrees while competing in tournaments.[48]

Charitable work

Fernandez started the Leylah Annie & Family Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to providing families with a better quality of life through education and sports.[49]

Endorsements

Fernandez is sponsored by Canadian brand Lululemon for apparel and by French brand Babolat for racquets, currently using the Babolat Pure Aero racquet. In January 2022, she became the first global brand ambassador in tennis for Lululemon. Lululemon replaces her prior apparel sponsor Asics, which she will continue to use for footwear until Lululemon launches its tennis footwear line by the end of 2022.[50] She is also sponsored by wireless telecommunications company Telcel/Claro, cosmetics company Birchbox, Morgan Stanley, and EasyPost.[51] She also is a brand ambassador for Flair Airlines along with fellow Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Félix Auger-Aliassime.[52] Additional sponsors include USANA, Microsure, and Cambridge Global Payments.[53][54] In January 2022, she became a Google ambassador in Canada for the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro as well as Gatorade Canada ambassador.[55][56]

Career statistics

Main article: Leylah Fernandez career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Current through the 2024 Australian Open.

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 0 / 5 2–5 29%
French Open A A 3R 2R QF 2R 0 / 4 8–4 67%
Wimbledon A A NH 1R A 2R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
US Open A A 2R F 2R 1R 0 / 4 8–4 67%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 3–3 7–4 5–3 3–4 1–1 0 / 15 19–15 56%

Doubles

Current through the 2024 Australian Open.

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open A A A 3R 1R 1R A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
French Open A A 1R 3R 2R F 0 / 4 7–4 64%
Wimbledon A A NH 1R A 2R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
US Open A A A 3R 2R QF 0 / 3 6–3 67%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 5–4 2–3 9–4 0–0 0 / 12 16–12 57%

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2021 US Open Hard United Kingdom Emma Raducanu 4–6, 3–6

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2023 French Open Clay United States Taylor Townsend Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei
China Wang Xinyu 		6–1, 6–7(5–7), 1–6

References

  1. ^ a b c "cndtennis profile". cndtennis.ca. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Roland-Garros : le titre juniors pour la Canadienne Leylah Annie Fernandez". L'Équipe (in French). Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Canadian Fernandez wins junior title in Paris". TSN.ca. The Canadian Press. 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Canadian Fernandez loses to top seed in Australian Open junior final". CBC. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  5. ^ Hickey, Pat (11 June 2019). "With a Grand Slam junior title, Leylah Annie Fernandez has met one of her three goals this year". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  6. ^ Pat Hickey (21 July 2019). "Leylah Annie Fernandez sweeps titles at Gatineau tennis Challenger". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  7. ^ Pat Hickey (28 July 2019). "Laval's Fernandez defeats Montrealer Abanda to reach Granby final". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  8. ^ Mark Lidbetter (23 January 2020). "Laval's Fernandez makes Grand Slam debut at Australian Open". The Suburban. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  9. ^ Gregory Strong (10 February 2020). "Canadian tennis starlet Leylah Annie Fernandez confident after stunning Bencic". CBC. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
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  13. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  18. ^ "Leylah Fernandez named CP female athlete of the year". CBC Sports. 28 December 2021.
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  34. ^ "After singles exits, Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu still making noise at French Open". The Globe and Mail. 7 June 2023.
  35. ^ "Fernandez, Townsend rout Gauff, Pegula to reach French Open final".
  36. ^ Rivard, Paul (10 August 2023). "Rivard : The End of the Road for Leylah". Tennis Canada.
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  39. ^ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/tennis/article-canadas-fernandez-through-to-hong-kong-open-final-with-win-over/
  40. ^ "Fernandez beats Siniakova to win Hong Kong, first title of season". WTA. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  41. ^ McLean, Ross (12 November 2023). "Canada 2-0 Italy: Canada crowned 2023 World Champions". Billie Jean King Cup. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  42. ^ a b Grez, Matias (13 November 2023). "Billie Jean King Cup: Leylah Fernandez guides Canada to first ever title". CNN. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  43. ^ "Stakusic, Fernandez power Canada to 1st-ever Billie Jean King Cup title". CBC Sports. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  44. ^ The Canadian Press (12 November 2023). "Leylah Fernandez clinches win as Canada tops Italy in Billie Jean King Cup Finals". The Globe & Mail. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  45. ^ https://www.billiejeankingcup.com/en/bjkc/content/fernandez%20and%20kalinina%20win%202023%20heart%20awards
  46. ^ Westerby, John (11 September 2021). "US Open: Small and tenacious Leylah Fernandez has taken inspiration from Pep Guardiola". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  47. ^ "How Well Do You Know Your Fed Cup Team?". tenniscanada.com. Tennis Canada. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  48. ^ "Leylah Fernandez urges athletes to become financially literate as soon as possible". cnbc.com. CNBC. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  49. ^ "Leylah Annie & Family Foundation". leylahanniefoundation.org. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  50. ^ Forbes.com. "Lululemon Signs Leylah Fernandez, Plans Tennis-Specific Apparel". Forbes.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  51. ^ Tennisfansite.com. "Brands That Sponsor Leylah Fernandez". Tennisfansite.com. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  52. ^ wingsmagazine.com (13 September 2021). "Leylah Fernandez endorsement deal with Flair Airlines". wingsmagazine.com. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  53. ^ wtatennis.com. "Player bio". wtatennis.com. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  54. ^ "Cambridge Global Payments Adds Rising WTA Star Leylah Fernandez as Ambassador".
  55. ^ "Canadian Tennis Star Leylah Fernandez joins #TeamPixel". 12 January 2022.
  56. ^ "@leylahanniefernandez on Instagram: "What's keeping me fueled and ready for Tuesday?! You guessed it, I'm thrilled to officially be part of the @GatoradeCanada team. ⚡️Can't wait to hit the court together. #FuelledByG"".

External links

Bobbie Rosenfeld Award
French Open girls' singles champions
Women's Tennis Association: Top female doubles tennis players from the Americas
Women's Tennis Association: Top Canadian female singles tennis players
Women's Tennis Association: Top Canadian female doubles tennis players
Categories