Leylah Fernandez looks back at her tennis journey with sister Bianca, from childhood to their latest Canadian Open stint, as pair crash out in SF
Leylah Fernandes recently shared a few childhood images with sister Bianca Jolie, highlighting the sisters' tennis journey. The duo played many sports, but their father, Jorge, who has been their coach ever since, encouraged them to focus on tennis. The sisters recently reached the semifinals at the Canadian Open, eventually losing to Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski 2-6, 4-6.
They started their doubles campaign in Toronto defeating Luisa Stefani and Demi Schuurs 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round. The Fernandez sisters then overcame Catherine Harrison and Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 4-6, 11-9, to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event. They continued their impressive run edging out Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 5-7, 12-10 in the quarterfinals.
After their quarterfinal triumph, Leylah shared an Instagram post featuring pictures with her sister Bianca, showing their journey from their early days in tennis to the present day.
"How it started vs how it’s going 👀 In the semis of @nbotoronto with @biancajolietennis 👯♀️ ¡Vamos! Allez!!," Leylah Fernandez wrote in the captions.
You can see the pictures she shared below:
Leyla had earlier shared praises for her sister in an interaction with the media, following the sisters' second-round victory at the National Bank Open.
"My sister was the boss on the court": Leylah Fernandez praised Bianca during their Canadian Open doubles campaign
Following their second-round win over Catherine Harrison and Ashlyn Krueger at the Canadian Open, Leylah Fernandez praised Bianca, saying she was the boss on the court.
“The reality was that my sister was the boss on the court in doubles. My dad gave her the green light to take over, and, you know, she, credit to her, she did an amazing job in snapping me out of my little rut,” Leylah told the media ( via Dialy Hive).
Fernandez added that despite her disappointment about her singles elimination, her sister Bianca's exceptional performance in the doubles lifted her spirits and eased the pain of her defeat:
“I was very disappointed with my singles loss, and to get back on court, it was extremely hard for me. She did some amazing points. She pumped us up. On some important points, she looked at me, and she gave me full confidence that I was going to do my part of the job. That helped me to kind of calm down, calm down those emotions,” she added.
Leylah Fernandez will next compete at the Cincinnati Open, where she will face the World No. 42 Yue Yuan in their first-ever encounter on tour.