Leylah Annie Fernandez: Difference between revisions

In 2017, in only her second professional event, Fernandez qualified for the main draw of the ITF 25K in Jackson. She defeated world No. 471 Dia Evtimova in the opening round and became the first player born in 2002 to win a main draw match at a 25K Challenger. She lost to former world No. 56 Alla Kudryavtseva in the next round. Also in 2017, she qualified for her second ITF 25K main draw but was defeated by compatriot [[Aleksandra Wozniak]] in the first round in [[Winnipeg Challenger|Winnipeg]]. In 2018, Fernandez won one of her biggest titles on the junior circuit after defeating Clara Tauson at the ITF GA in Porto Alegre. At the 2018 junior French Open, her first Grand Slam, she reached the semifinals in singles. She also reached the quarterfinals in singles of the 2018 US Open. At the 2018 [[Tournoi de Québec|Coupe Banque Nationale]], Fernandez got her first WTA main-draw win with a victory over compatriot [[Gabriela Dabrowski]]. She was defeated by Heather Watson in the second round. In 2019, she became the first Canadian girl to reach the singles final of the junior Australian Open, but was defeated by the first seed Clara Tauson. Also in 2019, she won her first Grand Slam title, defeating Emma Navarro at the junior French Open. At the 2019 [[Challenger de Gatineau]], Fernandez captured her first professional titles, winning in both singles and doubles. The next week at the ITF W80 in [[Championnats de Granby|Granby]], she reached her second professional singles final but lost to Lizette Cabrera. In September 2019, she reached the No. 1 combined junior world ranking, the first time a Canadian girl has been top ranked and the second overall. Also in 2019, she advanced to her third ITF singles final, losing to Fernanda Contreras Gómez at the W25 in Waco. At the 2019 [[Challenger de Saguenay|Challenger Banque Nationale de Saguenay]], she captured her second ITF doubles title with compatriot [[Mélodie Collard]]. The next week in [[Tevlin Challenger|Toronto]], Fernandez and Collard reached their second straight ITF W60 final where they were defeated by Robin Anderson and Jessika Ponchet. In 2020 at the Australian Open, she qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw where she lost to Lauren Davis in the first round. At the 2020 Fed Cup qualifying round, she defeated her first top- 10 player thanks to a straight-sets win over world No. 5 Belinda Bencic. Fernandez reached her first WTA final at the 2020 Mexican Open in Acapulco, losing to Heather Watson. In October 2020, she reached the doubles final of the ITF W15 in Sharm El Sheikh with sister Bianca Jolie Fernandez, losing to Russians Veronika Pepelyaeva and Anastasia Tikhonova. In March 2021, Fernandez captured her first WTA title, defeating Viktorija Golubic in straight sets in the final of the 250 Series in Monterrey, Mexico. In September 2021, Fernandez became the fourth Canadian man or woman to reach a Grand Slam final in singles, finishing runner-up to Emma Raducanu at the US Open. In 2022, she defended her title in Monterrey with a victory over Camila Osorio. In 2023, she reached her first WTA 1000 final in doubles, finishing runners-up with partner Taylor Townsend at the Miami Open. The same year at the French Open, she advanced to her first Grand Slam doubles final again with Townsend. Again in 2023, she won her third WTA singles title at the 250 event in Hong Kong. In 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, Fernandez was named Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada. In 2021 and twice in 2023, Fernandez was awarded the Billie Jean King Cup Heart Award. She also has won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian female athlete of the year in 2021.