Do we like Leylah Fernandez?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful turned up and there's real charity work, but she has said little publicly on the big issues, so we can't go higher.
Leylah Fernandez is a Canadian tennis player whose breakout year was 2021. That December, sports editors across Canada voted her the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award winner as the country's top female athlete. Her reaction was the sort of thing you'd want from a young star: she said she was “very honoured to be amongst these athletes” who had done so much for women's sports.
The big story around her isn't hers to own. In May 2026, during her 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final loss to fellow Canadian Victoria Mboko in Strasbourg, a video went around of her father and coach Jorge at a changeover. He asked her, “Do you want to play tennis or not?” and told her she was playing with fear. Social media piled on his methods, and the report we read carried no comment from Leylah about it.
On the harm check, we came up empty in a good way. Searches on LGBTQ+ issues, women, migrants, vaccines, climate and politics turned up no statements from her at all, and no co-stars, studios or causes that raise a flag. That's honestly the whole list: a quiet record, not a loud endorsement, so we can't tell you where she stands on the big issues.
The recent work is more telling. By late July 2026 she'd added Eric Hechtman to her team, and she says her dad and he often give the same advice, just framed differently: “Sometimes it is how you say it.” She then won her first two US Open matches in straight sets before facing Jessica Pegula in round three. It reads like someone listening, and changing things.
On the good stuff, in June 2026 she became a multi-year ambassador for the Canadian Red Cross monthly giving campaign, with videos, appearances and a donation-matching drive. She and her family also run a foundation focused on kids' sport and education. The Red Cross role is the cleanest record we could verify.
So: a passing grade on both tests, with the usual caveat that a quiet record is a thin one. If you're a Leylah fan, keep cheering, and maybe keep an eye on how her team treats her.