Mexico's Leonel Cardenas is a player with a bright future ahead of him, having already tallied double digit titles and broke into the world's top 30 for the first time in 2022

He reached the quarter-finals on his debut in 2016, at the British Virgin Islands Open Squash Championship, and he would only have to wait a year before he claimed his first victory as a professional, winning the Country Club Cochabamba Bolivia Open on the Tour De Las Americas (TDLA).

He secured two more wins in 2018, victorious at the ScotiaMcLeod, Charlton & Hill Squash Pro-Am and the Guatemala 5K Open II before having a breakout year in 2019, where he won five times on Tour.

It started with a win at the Linear Logistics Bankers Hall Club Pro Am, before wins at the Rochester Pro Am and the Resistencia Open on the TDLA. The APM Kelowna Open and the Securian Open titles were also claimed later that year, as he made strides up the World Rankings.

The Mexican only featured four times in 2020, but accrued two runners-up finishes, reaching the final at the Oregon Open and the Qualico Manitoba Open, before making his first appearance at a Platinum event, doing so at the CIB Egyptian Open in front of the Pyramids.

He then started 2021 strongly, with a pair of wins at the Life Time Plano International Squash Open - Presented by Resolve Tech Solutions and the Texas Auto Save Life Time San Antonio 281 International Squash Open, to take his tally of wins on Tour into double figures.

That was followed by a semi-final appearance at the Squash on Fire Open, and then his debut appearance at the PSA World Championships, which came in Chicago. Cardenas finished his year with a pair of wins in Guatemala, beating compatriot Alfredo Avila in both finals. Those results pushed him inside the top 50 again, and he became Mexico’s No.1 for the first time in his career.

Cardenas then made a first Bronze level quarter final, coming at the Karachi Open Squash Championships. He then made consecutive finals in Qatar, at the QSF 2 and QSF 3, before reaching another Bronze quarter final, this time at the Open de France de Squash. Those results, along with a semi-final appearance at the Cleveland Skating Club Open, saw Cardenas break the world’s top 30 for the first time.

The Mexican reached the last eight of the Houston, in his first appearance of 2023, before making the semis of the Oxford Properties Canadian Men’s Open. Cardenas claimed his 13th Tour title with a victory at the Oasis Pools & Spas Manitoba Open, and broke into the world’s top 25 for the first time in March 2023.