Leylah Annie Fernandez was born on September 6, 2002, in Montreal, Quebec, into a family that didn’t fit a single mold. Her father was an Ecuadorian immigrant. Her mother was Filipino-Canadian. They raised three daughters in a city with two official languages, and somehow the youngest of those daughters grew up speaking three languages fluently and became one of professional tennis’s most captivating personalities.
She is 23 years old as of 2026, ranked among the WTA’s top 30 players, and still operating well below her ceiling. Her career has barely started, yet she already owns some of the sport’s most memorable moments.
Parents and Where She Really Comes From
Her father Jorge is from Ecuador and moved to Canada as a child, becoming a Canadian citizen at age 14. He later returned to Ecuador to play professional soccer before settling the family back in Canada.
Jorge is Leylah’s full-time tennis coach. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and later immigrated to Canada with his family. He brought a unique cultural perspective to Leylah’s upbringing. Jorge played semi-professional soccer before shifting his focus entirely to his daughter’s tennis development. The man had no formal tennis background when he picked up tennis books and training videos to teach himself the sport from scratch, entirely for his daughter’s benefit.
Her mother Irene Exevea worked full-time in California for several years to financially support Leylah’s early training and travel. Leylah’s parents separated during her childhood, but they remained united in supporting her tennis career.
Leylah has spoken about what her mother’s years away meant to her. She said every time she got on court during those years, she thought: “I’m going to do everything in my power to be closer to my dreams, so we can be together again.” Her parents’ sacrifices weren’t background noise—they were the engine.
As Leylah herself put it: “My dad is my coach, and my mom is the one who kept our family together.”
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Ethnicity, Heritage and Language
Her father Jorge is from Ecuador. Her mother Irene (née Exevea) is a Filipino Canadian. This mixed Ecuadorian and Filipino-Canadian heritage has given Leylah a multicultural identity that shows in how she carries herself publicly—comfortable in multiple cultural spaces, never quite fitting a single box.
Born into a multicultural family in Montreal, Fernandez is fluent in English, French and Spanish. She has joked in interviews that she sometimes dreams in Italian, suggesting a mind that moves comfortably between worlds.
Regarding religion, Fernandez has not publicly discussed her spiritual or religious beliefs in verified media appearances. This aspect of her life remains private.
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Sisters and Siblings
Leylah grew up alongside her two sisters, Bianca Jolie and Jodeci Fernandez.
Jodeci Fernandez, Leylah’s elder sister, is a dentist. She chose a completely different path from professional sport and has stayed largely out of the public eye.
Bianca Jolie Fernandez is a professional tennis player like Leylah Fernandez. She trains under their father Jorge and has competed in junior and professional-level tournaments. The two sisters have partnered in doubles matches and advanced together at the 2024 Canadian Open, which Leylah has described as one of her favorite experiences in the sport.
Childhood: The Pink Suit and the Teacher Who Got It Wrong
At age seven, Fernandez was cut from Tennis Quebec’s development program. According to Jorge, a local tennis club considered Leylah too small to succeed.
Rather than walking away, Jorge doubled down. He read books, watched videos, used his soccer background to develop her speed and agility, and became her full-time coach.
A teacher once told her to stop playing tennis. Interestingly, she previously revealed that one of her teachers told her “to stop playing tennis, you’ll never make it, just focus on school.” She responded: “I’m glad she told me that because every day I have that phrase in my head saying, ‘I’m going to keep going, push through, prove to her everything I’ve dreamed of, I’m going to achieve.'”
She also grew up watching her WTA ranking, or rather not watching it. “Growing up my dad would forbid me looking at the rankings, points or results; I would only show up and play tennis,” she said. That discipline—focusing on the process rather than the position—shaped how she approaches pressure moments even now.
Physical Profile and Playing Style
Fernandez is listed at 5ft 4in on her WTA profile. She is left-handed with a two-handed backhand, a combination that creates unusual angles and disrupts opponents’ rhythm. Her compact frame gives her speed and low-to-the-ground stability, compensating for what she lacks in power with precision and court coverage.
She trained in Montreal before the family moved to Florida when she was twelve. She now trains in Miami, where her father continues to oversee her development.
Junior Career and Early Talent
She started playing tennis at five and competing at ten. She quickly made history as the youngest Canadian to win main draw matches in ITF 25K tournaments.
Her junior career built steadily. On June 8, 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.
The US Open 2021 Run
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.
That tournament in New York was unlike anything tennis had seen in years. She knocked out Osaka, then Angelique Kerber, then Elina Svitolina, then Aryna Sabalenka—all in succession. She did it with visible joy rather than grinding tension, pumping her fist after winners with the energy of someone who had nothing to lose and genuinely believed she could win.
She lost the final to Raducanu, but the tournament made her a global name overnight.
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WTA Titles and Team Canada
According to her official WTA profile, She has won multiple WTA singles titles, including back-to-back Monterrey titles (2021, 2022) and Hong Kong 2023.
Fernandez played a pivotal role in Canada’s first-ever Billie Jean King Cup win in 2023, defeating Jasmine Paolini in the final. She went the entire week unbeaten in Seville, including a crucial win over Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the semi-finals.
Her career-high singles ranking of No. 13 was reached on August 8, 2022. As of early 2026, she remains in the top 30 and continues to compete at the highest level.
Personal Life and Relationships
Fernandez keeps her romantic life private. There is no publicly confirmed information about a relationship or partner as of 2026. She has made clear in interviews that she prefers to keep this aspect of her life separate from her public career.
What she does share openly is her love for family, her appreciation for food—chocolate lava cake is her stated favorite dessert—and her interest in languages and culture. She has mentioned dreaming of learning Italian properly after joking that she sometimes thinks in it anyway.
She and her younger sister Bianca are also learning salsa dancing together, a detail that suggests a home life warmer and more relaxed than the competitive intensity of professional tennis might imply.
Sponsors, Foundation and Community Work
In January 2022, she became the first global brand ambassador in tennis for Lululemon. She is also sponsored by Babolat for racquets, and additional sponsors include Telcel/Claro, Birchbox, Morgan Stanley, EasyPost, USANA, and Flair Airlines.
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. The foundation reflects values that clearly come from her upbringing—a family that gave everything so she could have opportunities, now channeling that same spirit outward.
Net Worth and Career Earnings
In prize money, Fernandez has won a little more than $3 million, and her net worth has been estimated to be $6 million, per various sources. This figure accounts for tournament winnings alongside substantial sponsorship income from brands like Lululemon and Babolat.
These figures are estimates rather than confirmed financial disclosures. As her ranking and profile continue growing, endorsement values tend to increase alongside them.
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