Sisterly bonding drives Leylah Fernandez's upward momentum going into US Open

WATCH: Leylah Fernandez talks "winning ugly" in Cincinnati with Tennis Channel | INTERVIEW

Leylah Annie Fernandez is riding high ahead of her return to the US Open, after being bolstered by even more family support than usual during the build-up to the year’s final major.

With dad and longtime coach Jorge Fernandez in tow, the Canadian has put together a solid run on North American hard-courts in both singles and doubles.

Tennis pundits will be quick to point to her strong showing in Cincinnati as the high point: Fernandez claimed her biggest win of the year over world No. 4 Elena Rybakina, and pushed world No. 6 Jessica Pegula in a nail-biting 7-5, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3) quarterfinal. Fernandez also reached the final in doubles with Yulia Putintseva, knocking out the top-seeded team of Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova out along the way.

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Ask Fernandez herself, and the 21-year-old will probably inform you that the real highlight happened before any tennis balls were struck: Her younger sister Bianca Jolie has been traveling to tournaments with the clan again, and even took over “coach” duties in a pinch.

“I’m just happy to have her here and to spend time with her!” Fernandez gushed to press last week. “I haven't seen her as much as I would want to this year, because she's gone to school and also I've been traveling a lot more.

“So it’s just good to spend time with her and to have her perspective, too.”

The sisters’ reunion has been marked by dozens of joyful selfies and team photos, and it’s proved to be a good omen on the tennis court too. Leylah and Bianca joined forces to reach the doubles semifinals in Toronto, both players’ best result on home soil to date.

In Cincinnati, they turned heads again as 20-year-old Bianca, a UCLA Bruin, briefly stepped up to coach Leylah during her first-round match when dad Jorge had to take a meeting. The Fernandezes won that match, with Leylah completing a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback over Yue Yuan.

“My sister is basically like a mini-dad!” Fernandez said afterward. “It’s kind of funny to see how she uses the same words, same vocabulary as him…

“Sometimes she just tells me the obvious, and even though it’s the same message as dad, for some reason the way she says it it just clicks. You never know! Sometimes it just has to be from a different person at certain moments.”

No matter which member of the Fernandez family the message comes from, for 21-year-old Leylah the mission is to find consistency on the court.

After a successful week in Cincinnati, Fernandez bowed out in the opening round in Cleveland in singles and doubles with Bianca. Now, she homes in on the US Open, where she reached the final in 2021.

She’s determined to treat the US Open just like any other tournament, despite having unfinished business at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

“We’ve been working a lot on self-belief and self-confidence in the past few years, and to not just be confident when you’re winning but also to be confident when things are going bad,” she said.

“I’m happy that I have the right team around me to remind me that there’s so much more that I can do, and there’s so many things that I have done already so far. And just to keep working, keep chipping away, and to never forget about what I can do with my talent and with my tennis and mentality.”

No. 23 seed Fernandez will face Anastasia Potapova in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.