You can’t talk about Leylah Fernandez without talking about the people who shaped her, because honestly? Her parents are the secret behind her success. Just a few hours ago, the 23-year-old Canadian gritted out another classic Leylah-style win, beating Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in Strasbourg after nearly three hours of pure chaos. And if you watched that match, you saw the blueprint: relentless fight, zero quit, and that fiery energy she gets from somewhere. That somewhere is home.

Who is Leylah Fernandez’s father, Jorge Fernandez?

Meet Jorge Fernandez. He’s not just Leylah Fernandez’s father, but also her coach, her strategist, and the guy who learned a sport from scratch just so his daughter could chase a dream. Here’s the wild part: Jorge was a semi-professional soccer player. He played football in local Montreal leagues. Tennis? He knew almost nothing. But when Leylah got cut from a Canadian youth tennis development program at age seven, Jorge didn’t panic. He got to work. He studied the game obsessively, teaching himself the X’s and O’s so he could guide her.

Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Jorge moved to Montreal with his family when he was just four years old. He became a Canadian citizen at 14. His coaching philosophy isn’t about fancy drills. It’s about mental toughness, discipline, and keeping his daughter’s head in the game.

In fact, he famously forbade her from looking at rankings or points while she was growing up. “I would only show up at the tennis match and play tennis and without that worry in my mind,” Leylah once said. That’s vintage Jorge, building a champion from the inside out.

Who is Leylah Fernandez’s mother, Irene Exevea?

If Jorge is the engine, Irene Exevea is the foundation. Leylah’s mother is a Filipino-Canadian, born in Canada to Filipino parents. While Jorge coached Leylah on the court, Irene did something arguably harder. She moved to California for years to work and send money back home, holding the family together financially during those lean, pre-fame years. Imagine making that sacrifice. Being away from your kid so she can chase a racket dream.

Leylah has never forgotten it. “My dad is my coach, and my mom is the one who kept our family together,” she once said. In interviews, she’s described her mother as having a calming and encouraging attitude that helps the entire family stay grounded. Irene doesn’t seek the spotlight. But when she appears, like during a rare family night out at an LAFC soccer game in 2025, you can see where Leylah gets that quiet strength. She’s the brick that keeps the balloon from floating away.

Does Leylah Fernandez have siblings?

Yes, and the Fernandez household is basically a sports drama waiting to be written. Leylah has two sisters. The oldest is Jodeci Fernandez, and here’s a twist: she’s a dentist. While Leylah was chasing down forehands, Jodeci was chasing cavities. She graduated from McGill University in Montreal and now lives in Ohio with her husband.

Then there’s Bianca Jolie Fernandez, Leylah’s younger sister, born in 2004. And yes, Bianca plays tennis too. She’s a professional player, currently competing on the ITF and WTA circuits. The sisters have even teamed up in doubles, including at the 2022 Monterrey Open. The two share a foundation together called the Leylah Annie & Family Foundation. So yes, tennis runs deep in this family.

What are Leylah Fernandez’s parents’ ethnicity and nationality?

Leylah Fernandez is a walking United Nations meeting, and she owns it. Her father, Jorge, is Ecuadorian-Canadian. Her mother, Irene, is Filipino-Canadian. Both are Canadian citizens, which makes Leylah Canadian by birth; she was born in Montreal. But her identity spans three flags: Canada, Ecuador, and the Philippines. She even posts all three flags on her social media.

The result? Leylah speaks three languages fluently: English, Spanish, and French. And if you’ve ever heard her scream “¡Vamos!” after a big point, that’s the Ecuadorian side coming through. It’s a beautiful mashup of cultures, and she’s never been shy about embracing all of it. “She adores her culture,” Irene once said in an interview. You can see it every time she steps on court.

Inside Leylah Fernandez’s relationship with her parents

This might be the best part. How do you separate “dad” from “coach” when they’re the same person? Leylah has figured it out. “I think right now, I’m able to separate both,” she explained in 2025. “When I’m on court, I think of him as my coach. When I do interviews now, I’m talking to him, mentioning him more as my coach. But off court, during dinner, he’s my dad. I can talk to him for hours, talk shit, and just be okay with it.” That’s real.

She’s also spoken about how her parents kept her humble during the crazy early years. “My mom was there to pop my bubble and just to tie a huge brick and bring me down as quickly as possible down to earth,” she admitted. As for attending matches? Her father usually stays home and sends strategic plans remotely; he didn’t even travel to the 2021 US Open final. Meanwhile, her mom makes rare appearances, like that LAFC game where she joined Leylah and Bianca. The Instagram caption said it all: “Family is everything ❤️.”

The clay is her playground, and she’s just getting warmed up. After that grueling three-set win over Frech in Strasbourg, Leylah has now set up an all-Canadian quarterfinal showdown against Victoria Mboko on Thursday. It’s going to be a battle. And if she gets through that? The French Open is right around the corner. Knowing Leylah, she’s going to take that underdog energy, the same energy her parents built from the ground up, and cause some real damage in Paris. Don’t blink.