Introduction
Leylah Annie Fernandez (born 6 September 2002) is a Canadian tennis player.
Fernandez has a career high WTA singles ranking of No. 206 achieved on 13 January 2020. She also has a career high WTA doubles ranking of No. 291 achieved on 18 November 2019.
Junior Career
On 25 January 2019, Fernandez made it to the Australian Open Girls' Singles Final, where she lost to the top seeded Clara Tauson 4–6, 3–6. On 8 June 2019, Fernandez defeated Emma Navarro 6–3, 6–2 in the French Open Girl's Singles Final to become the first Canadian female winner of a junior Grand Slam title since Eugenie Bouchard at 2012 Wimbledon.
Professional career
On 21 July 2019, Fernandez won her first professional singles tennis title when she rallied to beat fellow Canadian Carson Branstine 3–6, 6–1, 6–2 in the final of the $25,000 Gatineau National Bank ITF 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 Chieh-Yu Hsu of Taiwan 7–6 (7–5), 6–3. The following week she made her second consecutive ITF final in Granby, losing to Lizette Cabrera of Australia.
Fernandez made her Grand Slam debut at the 2020 Australian Open. After making it through the Qualifying competition, she fell in the 1st round to Lauren Davis.
Personal life
Her father Jorge is a former soccer player, and her younger sister Bianca Jolie is also a tennis player.
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner–ups)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $80,000 tournaments |
| $60,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $15,000 tournaments |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (1–2) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $80,000 tournaments |
| $60,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $15,000 tournaments |
| Hard (1–2) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Jul 2019 | ITF Gatineau, Canada | W25 | Hard | Carson Branstine | 3–6, 6–1, 6–2 | |
| Loss | Jul 2019 | ITF Granby, Canada | W80 | Hard | Lizette Cabrera | 1–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | Oct 2019 | ITF Waco, United States | W25 | Hard | Fernanda Contreras | 3–6, 6–2, 1–6 |
Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Jul 2019 | ITF Gatineau, Canada | W25 | Hard | Rebecca Marino | Hsu Chieh-yu Marcela Zacarias |
7–6, 6–3 | |
| Win | Oct 2019 | ITF Saguenay, Canada | W60 | Hard (i) | Mélodie Collard | Samantha Murray Bibiane Schoofs |
7–6, 6–2 | |
| Loss | Nov 2019 | ITF Toronto, Canada | W60 | Hard (i) | Mélodie Collard | Robin Anderson Jessika Ponchet |
6–7 , 2–6 |
Junior Grand Slam finals
Girls' Singles
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2019 | Australian Open | Hard | Clara Tauson | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 2019 | French Open | Clay | Emma Navarro | 6–3, 6–2 |
Grand Slam performance timelines
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
Singles
| Tournament | 2020 | W–L |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 1R | 0–1 |
| French Open | 0–0 | |
| Wimbledon | 0–0 | |
| US Open | 0–0 | |
| Win–Loss | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Top 10 wins
| Season | 2020 | Total |
| Wins | 1 | 1 |
| # | Opponent | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | LAFR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ||||||||
| 1. | Belinda Bencic | No. 5 | Fed Cup, Switzerland | Hard (i) | QR | 6–2, 7–6 | No. 185 | |