Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada returns a backhand against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia during their singles first round match within the Internazionali BNL D’Italia at Foro Italico on May 09, 2022 in Rome, Italy.
Alex Pantling | Getty Images
Leylah Fernandez isn’t any abnormal 20-year-old. She is ranked among the many top tennis players on the earth. She’s won two Women’s Tennis Association titles and was a U.S. Open finalist in 2021.
But Fernandez can be making a reputation for herself off the court – and she or he’s captivated with financial literacy.
This week, Fernandez was in Latest York as Morgan Stanley and the WTA announced a recent, multi-year global partnership. This system fosters inclusivity and expands access to the sport of tennis. As well as, the partnership will include financial literacy and planning resources for players.
“Morgan Stanley’s partnership with the WTA is an ideal step forward for ladies’s sports usually. I like to see firms that support women’s sports because there’s a lot that we are able to do together and improve together,” Fernandez, a brand ambassador for Morgan Stanley, told CNBC in an interview Wednesday.
Fernandez said lots of her fellow competitors worry about having a career-ending injury and never knowing what to do. The Morgan Stanley program will help prepare them, she added.
“We’re focused on tennis our whole lives. That is the only thing that we all know, but it surely’s not something we are able to at all times depend upon. I need to have that stability, that thought that every part goes to be all right and we’d like to have those resources,” she said.
Given her link to Morgan Stanley, Fernandez said she feels an added responsibility to not only ask financial questions for her own good, but to encourage others on tour to have that very same confidence as well.
“It might be great if we are able to have conferences to open the conversation in a healthy environment where WTA players are comfortable speaking their minds. I believe the issue is we wish to be perceived as strong and that we all know every part, but we do not,” she said to CNBC.
Morgan Stanley was drawn to Fernandez’s leadership example.
“She is a task model that folks can see themselves in. She also reflects our brand values, including giving back to the community, and valuing equity and inclusion,” said Alice Milligan, Morgan Stanley’s chief marketing officer.
Alice Milligan, Leylah Annie Fernandez and Micky Lawler attend the Morgan Stanley x Women’s Tennis Association Partnership Launch on March 01, 2023 in Latest York City.
Mike Coppola | Getty Images
Along with Fernandez’s involvement with Morgan Stanley, she has worked with Lululemon, Alphabet‘s Google and Subway. Fernandez said she’s learned lots from her experience within the business world.
“At first I used to be afraid to ask questions because I used to be nervous it was dumb, or way too easy, but asking questions is a very powerful thing. I should be financially stable in life after tennis, so having the ability to participate has opened my eyes and mind to a recent world,” she told CNBC.
While traveling everywhere in the world for tennis tournaments and climbing to a career-high rating of 13 last summer, Fernandez, who hails from Canada, is making her education a priority. She is majoring in business at Indiana University East, which has a partnership with the WTA, together with the Women’s Tennis Advantages Association, to permit players to realize baccalaureate degrees online while competing on tour.
As for her future ambitions outside of tennis, she said it remains to be very early, but she desires to learn more about business and the stock market. She said working with a Wall Street giant helps on that front.
“I do not have the desire to make any drastic decisions so quick without knowing all the small print. That is why it’s so great that I’m working with Morgan Stanley to assist me understand that you may’t just put all of your coins in a single stock,” Fernandez said.
