"My dad purposely stepped away, so I don't hide behind him" - Leylah Fernandez's sister Bianca on coaching relationship with father
Bianca and Leylah Fernandez are among the many siblings on Tour. The duo have attained varying degrees of success, but the base of their games were laid by their father.
The younger sister, Bianca, during an appearance on the latest episode of Match Point Canada podcast opened up about her early years.
Bianca said her father laid the foundation for her game, but has made a conscious effort to step aside and make room for her to learn from other coaches as well.
Explaining the rationale, Bianca said her father wanted to make sure that she did not spend too much time “hiding” behind him before dubbing 2024 a year of “experiments."
"That was something that I had to adapt this year," the youngster said (at 22.00). "And I think my dad purposely stepped away in a way to give me that opportunity so that I don't hide behind him in a way, you know, so that was a year of this year was a year of experiments."
"I think my dad purposely stepped away in a way to give me that opportunity to not behind him, you know, so that way this year was a year of experimenting, of me discovering to be with coaches who were unaccepting and being more open and learning to be more open," she added.
"I am very stubborn, it's a slight difference between Leylah Fernandez and I" - Canadian's sister Bianca
Bianca also spoke about the difference in approach between her and her sister Leylah Fernandez, who had her big breakthrough at the 2021 US Open when she reached the final.
The youngster described herself as “stubborn”, saying Leylah was able to learn from other coaches as well as their father but she preferred to work under the guidance of the latter alone.
"I think this year was definitely a bit of an experiment. We wanted to see how I would react with less interaction, him being less hands-on onto the court, you know, giving me space learning to accept other coaches, because I have a history of not accepting other coaches," Bianca Fernandez said.
"I am very stubborn, so, It's a slight difference between [Leylah Fernandez] and I, it's like she was able to go with the flow, understand and learn and grab whatever she could grab from other coaches and then still learn from my dad while I was very much my dad says this, my dad says that and I will not change for anyone.
Bianca reached a career-high world ranking of No. 606 at the back end of last year. She is now ranked just outside the top-700.