Many Filipino athletes have brought honor to the country this year during the Tokyo Olympics such as our first-ever Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz, silver medalist boxers Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, and bronze medalist boxer Eumir Marcial.
Recently, another athlete with Filipino blood became a household name after beating seeded tennis players Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka (#3 and #2 respectively), making it to the US Open final. She's none other than rising tennis star, Leylah Fernandez.
The 19-year-old tennis player from Canada faced off with British player Emma Raducanu during the final match of the US Open women's singles tournament. Although Leylah lost to Emma, she still made a lot of Filipinos proud by her surprising and impressive journey to the finals.
Get to know rising tennis star Leylah Fernandez more in the gallery below.
Tennis player Leylah Fernandez has been in the news a lot recently because of her surprising and impressive journey to the US Open finals. Continue browsing to get to know more about the rising tennis star with Filipino blood.
Leylah Annie Fernandez was born in Laval in Quebec, Canada.
Leylah Fernandez has an Ecuadorian father and Filipino Canadian mother.
Leylah Fernandez's Canadian Filipino mother, Irene's mom is from Leyte and her father from Ilocos Norte.
Leylah Fernandez's father, Jorge, is a former soccer player from Ecuador.
One of Leylah Fernandez's sisters, Bianca Jolie, is also a tennis player.
Leylah Fernandez won both her first singles and doubles tennis title on July 21, 2019 at the Gatineau Challenger finals.
Leylah Fernandez made her Grand Slam debut in the Australia Open in 2020.
A week after Leylah Fernandez's Grand Slam debut, she defeated Belinda Bencic, who was then ranked as No. 5 in the world at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round.
In 2020, Leylah Fernandez also defeated Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens and qualified to the quarterfinals of the Monterrey Open.
Leylah Fernandez was also part of the Canadian tennis team that competed in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.
In March 2021, Leylah Fernandez won her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) title after beating Swiss tennis player Viktorija Golubic in the Monterrey Open.
Leylah Fernandez became an instant celebrity after beating third seed and defending champion Naomi Osaka in the 2021 US Open.
Leylah Fernandez also won over other seeded players during the 2021 US Open such as three-time major champion Angelique Kerber, fifth seed Elina Svitolina, and second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Leylah Fernandez made it to the final match of the US Open women's singles tournament. Although she lost to British tennis player Emma Raducanu, her journey to the finals as a dark horse was still such an amazing feat.
Congratulations, Leylah Fernandez. The Filipino people are proud of you. You did a great job. We're excited to watch your future matches and root for you.