Leylah Fernandez on how she copes with sister Bianca's absence from Tour: "I spend quality time on team dinners... try to enjoy our time"
Tennis can be a lonely sport at times and that is why Leylah Fernandez was glad to have her sister around on the tour to keep her company. Things, however, have changed ever so slightly in the Canadian’s camp.
Leylah and younger sister Bianca were sharing the court for doubles in Cincinnati a few weeks ago. The latter, however, has since moved to college and left behind a void for her sister to fill.
During her post-match press conference at the Wuhan Open, Fernandez was asked about her team dynamics. The youngster in response recalled her time in Cincinnati with Bianca.
Noting that it was not easy to return to an empty room at the end of the day (given her sister’s absence), Fernandez said she used team dinners and watching movies with members of her entourage to keep herself from feeling lonely in Bianca’s absence.
"Cincinnati was super fun because I got to spend more time with my younger sister. Now she's in college. I got to spend time with her," Leylah Fernandez said.
"Today what we do here in Asia a lot is spend some quality time on team dinners, try to watch movies together, videos together, try to enjoy our time so that I don't lose that sense of, like, coming back to the room on my own now that my sister's not here," she added.
"It's still a lot of fun" - Leylah Fernandez on getting to travel with her family
Leylah Fernandez spoke about getting to travel with her family, including her father Jorge who has been her coach since her early days. The youngster said in the same interview that she shares great chemistry with her father and her fitness trainer, Abdul, both on and off the court.
The Canadian also took note of her team members’ uncanny ability to help her snap out of a bad phase, saying it keeps her in matches at times.
"It's still a lot of fun. I'm traveling with my dad and my fitness trainer, Abdul. My dad is my coach. We have a great chemistry, all three of us off court, on court, too," Leylah Fernandez said.
"Today I'm just extremely happy with the way my coach was able to snap me out of my negative outbursts a couple of times. It was good to see that they were in the fight with me," she added.
Fernandez will next take on the winner of Moyuka Uchijima and Karolina Muchova. The latter had recently made the finals at the China Open, a WTA 1000 event, losing to Coco Gauff.