33 Facts About Leylah Fernandez

Leylah Annie Fernandez was born on 6 September 2002 and is a Canadian professional tennis player.

Leylah Fernandez has been ranked as high as No 13 by the WTA on 8 August 2022.

Leylah Fernandez played a pivotal role in Canada's first-ever Billie Jean King Cup win in 2023, defeating Jasmine Paolini in the final.

Leylah Fernandez's father Jorge is from Ecuador and is a former football player.

Leylah Fernandez's mother Irene is a Filipino Canadian.

On 25 January 2019, as a 16-year old, Leylah Fernandez reached the Australian Open girls' singles final, where she lost to the top-seeded Clara Tauson.

On 8 June 2019, Leylah 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, a victory that earned her the world No 1 junior ranking.

Leylah Fernandez made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open.

Leylah Fernandez 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.

Leylah Fernandez began 2021 without consecutive wins in her first four tournaments.

At the US Open, Leylah Fernandez became a fan favorite due to her success as an underdog.

Leylah Fernandez defeated the third seed and defending champion, Naomi Osaka, in three sets in the third round, former world-number-one and three-time major champion, Angelique Kerber, in the fourth round, in three sets, and fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, again in three sets, to reach her maiden major semifinal a day after her 19th birthday.

Leylah Fernandez then defeated Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, to reach her first major final and the first player born in 2002 to reach such a final.

Leylah Fernandez then made her Indian Wells Open debut as the 23rd seed.

Leylah Fernandez first beat Alize Cornet in the second round and French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third, before suffering an upset in round four by Shelby Rogers.

Leylah Fernandez started the season at the Adelaide International where she advanced to the round of 16, in which she was defeated by Iga Swiatek, in straight sets.

Leylah Fernandez lost to Maddison Inglis in the opening round of the Australian Open as the 23rd seed.

Leylah Fernandez entered the doubles competition with her sister, Bianca Fernandez.

In May, at the French Open, Leylah 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.

At the Canadian Open, Leylah Fernandez lost in the second round to eventual finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Leylah Fernandez started the season by reaching the quarterfinals at the Auckland Open.

At Wimbledon, Leylah Fernandez lost in the second round to Garcia in a third-set tiebreak.

Leylah Fernandez lost to Maria Sakkari in the second round of Washington Open, and scored a win against 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round of the Canadian Open, before losing to Danielle Collins.

Leylah Fernandez was knocked out of the US Open in the first round by Ekaterina Alexandrova, but again with Townsend, reached the quarterfinal of the women's doubles losing to eventual champions, Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski.

Leylah Fernandez reached her first WTA 1000 singles quarterfinal at the Guadalajara Open, losing there to Sofia Kenin.

At the beginning of the Asian swing, Leylah 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 Fruhvirtova, Anna Blinkova and Katerina Siniakova.

Leylah Fernandez 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.

Leylah 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 since the 2021 US Open.

Leylah Fernandez lost in the last four to Jessica Pegula.

Leylah Fernandez is a fan of football clubs Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Leylah Fernandez 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.

Leylah Fernandez is sponsored by Canadian brand Lululemon for apparel and by French brand Babolat for racquets, currently using the Babolat Pure Aero racquet.

Leylah Fernandez is a brand ambassador for Flair Airlines along with fellow Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Felix Auger-Aliassime.