"I won't quote her, she was pretty mean": Leylah Fernandez on raising her level after 'angry' sister Bianca's scolding during Canadian Open doubles

Leylah Fernandez discussed how her sister Bianca being 'mean' helped her understand that she needed to turn up the ante during their 2024 National Bank Open second round. The sisters narrowly survived their quarterfinal match against Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic to keep alive their dream run in their home tournament.

The Fernandez sisters are currently competing in the doubles at the National Bank Open. They kicked off their campaign in stunning fashion, ousting the fifth seeds Demi Schurrs and Luisa Stefani in straight sets. They followed it up with a topsy-turvy 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 win against Catherine Harrison and Ashlyn Krueger to reach the quarterfinals.

Leylah and Bianca then survived yet another thriller to eliminate Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 5-7, 12-10 and reach the semifinals.

During the press conference, Leylah Fernandez was asked if her sister gave her the encouragement she needed during their two tiebreak wins. The Canadian, while recalling an instance from their 2R win, joked that she couldn't quote Bianca as she was very "mean."

Fernandez added that her younger sister angrily let out a few sentences that helped her realize that her level wasn't up to the mark and that she needed to step up. She later joked how Bianca wouldn't remember the interaction.

"I won't quote her, because she was pretty mean at that time, I think it was in today's match, but it was the match before where I asked her, So, what do you see? And then she just let out two, three sentences that were kind of mean, but it was needed, I needed to hear that to say, Okay, yeah, I'm not playing well, she's very angry, let me step up now. I don't think she remembers," Leylah Fernandez said.

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"Honestly, I don't remember much that I say" - Bianca on not remembering what she said to her sister Leylah Fernandez during their interaction

Bianca and Leylah Fernandez celebrate (Image Source: Getty)

Agreeing with her sister, Bianca admitted that she doesn't remember much of what she says. She tried to recall the interaction and said she remembered Leylah being honest and then told her to get her head in the game.

"Honestly, I don't remember much that I say, I just know that, like I asked her how she felt, she was honest, and then I was like, Great, throw it out the window right now, (laughing), we got to play. It was along those lines," Bianca said.

Bianca and Leylah Fernandez will play the top seeds Erin Routliffe and compatriot Gabriela Dabrowski in the semifinals.