Leylah Fernandez
About
Leylah Fernandez was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on September 6, 2002, to an Ecuadorian father and Filipino-Canadian mother. She turned professional in 2019 after winning junior titles including the 2019 French Open girls' singles. Her breakthrough came at the 2021 US Open, reaching the final at age 19 by defeating Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elina Svitolina. Fernandez has won five WTA singles titles: Monterrey (2021, 2022), Hong Kong (2023), Washington DC and Osaka (2025). As of April 2026, she is ranked No. 25 in singles with 20 matches played YTD (6-10 record early, recent QF runs in Stuttgart and Madrid on clay).
Recent form
In the news
““Honestly, it’s what my coach told me at 0-30, 5-4. He said, ‘she’s not going to go down easy as you can see. She’s going to fight. You’re going to have to take the match.' I was glad that I trusted him.””
- Andreeva defeats Fernandez in Madrid QF, saves 3 set points (7-6, 6-3)
- Fernandez beats Li 6-3 6-2 in Madrid R16, reaches QF for 1st time since 2024
- Fernandez comeback win over Jovic 3-6 6-3 6-2 in Madrid R32
- Fernandez epic comeback vs Sonmez 6-7 6-1 7-6(??) to Stuttgart QF
- Fernandez beats Eala 6-1 6-4 in Stuttgart R1, 5th win of season
Playing style
Leylah Fernandez is an aggressive counterpuncher with exceptional movement and footwork that allows her to neutralize power hitters and turn defense into offense. Left-handed with a compact, fault-tolerant forehand taken early, she constructs points through angles, depth, and persistence rather than raw power, making her dangerous on clay and hard courts where her directional changes and net approaches exploit errors from bigger opponents.
Surface splits
Career surface splits.
Serve & return fingerprint
3 matches of statistics in the last 7 days. Aces/match: 0.3 · DFs/match: 3.3
- 1st serve in
- 57.7%
- 1st-serve points won
- 62.0%
- 2nd-serve points won
- 45.7%
- Return on 1st
- 52.3%
- Return on 2nd
- 59.0%
Big-match temperament
Notable rivalries
Rivalry network
Most-played opponents inside our 7-day rolling window.
Career snapshot
| Season | Year-end rank | W–L | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 735 | 2–1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 434 | 12–7 | 0 |
| 2019 | 212 | 23–11 | 1 |
| 2020 | 88 | 20–10 | 0 |
| 2021 | 24 | 25–17 | 1 |
| 2022 | 40 | 21–15 | 1 |
| 2023 | 35 | 41–24 | 1 |
| 2024 | 31 | 31–25 | 0 |
| 2025 | 22 | 34–25 | 2 |
| 2026 | 22 | 0–1 | 0 |
Team and equipment
- Head coach
- Jorge Fernandez
- Height
- 168 cm
- Plays
- Left-handed
- Backhand
- Two-handed
- Racquet
- Babolat Pure Aero
- Apparel
- Lululemon
Career highlights
- 2021 US Open finalist, defeated top-5 Osaka/Sabalenka
- 5 WTA singles titles: Monterrey x2, Hong Kong, Washington DC 500, Osaka 250
- 2022 French Open quarterfinalist
- Career-high No. 13 singles ranking August 2022
- Led Canada to 2023 Billie Jean King Cup title
- 2023 Roland Garros doubles finalist w/Townsend
- 2025 two WTA titles in one year
- 2026 Madrid Open quarterfinal
Where to follow
Live scores when Fernandez is on court appear on our tennis today and live streaming pages. The full WTA top-100 sits at our live WTA rankings. Compare Fernandez on the player statistical deep dive.
Head-to-head vs Aryna Sabalenka →