Leylah Fernandez

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.

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.

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

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.

She also entered the doubles competition with her sister, Bianca Fernandez.

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.

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.

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

Leylah Annie Fernandez (born 6 September 2002) 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.

Fernandez was born in Montreal, Quebec.

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.

Her younger sister Bianca is also a tennis player.

She then defeated Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, to reach her first major final 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.

In the final, she lost to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu in straight sets.

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.

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, a victory that earned her the world No. 1 junior ranking.

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.

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 Australian Open.

After qualifying, she lost in the first round to Lauren Davis.

She 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.

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.

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.