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Leylah Fernandez turned cheerleader for her younger sister Bianca on Friday, as the Canadian helped the UCLA Bruins beat the Loyola Marymount University's tennis team soundly in non-conference action.
UCLA won 6-1 in the rubber, with Bianca Fernandez winning her singles encounter 6-1, 6-4. Bianca, aged 20, is ranked outside the top 500 on the WTA Tour in singles but is No. 84 in the ITA rankings at the moment. She joined the Bruins at the start of the year.
Taking to Instagram after her sister's win, Leylah Fernandez shared her joy, writing:
"Good win for UCLA! And Bianca won!! Don't mind me, proud sister here."
Leylah Fernandez started a foundation with her sister Bianca in 2022
At the end of 2022, Leylah Fernandez, along with her sister Bianca, announced the launch of the Leylah Annie & Family Foundation. The foundation aims to promote 'life-changing opportunities' through education and sports, offering scholarships and sports grants to eligible students.
"It’s time to announce the Leylah Annie & Family Foundation! My family and I have been working hard, and we’re so excited to launch this project. We started this foundation because we believe access to character-building and life-changing opportunities through education and sports should never be limited," she said.
On the tennis side of things, Fernandez was last in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she faced a second-round exit against Jasmine Paolini. Before that, she made the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open, losing to eventual runner-up Elena Rybakina.
Up next, the former US Open runner-up will play at the WTA 500 San Diego Open, where she is the eighth seed. She has been drawn to face off against Tatjana Maria in her opener. She is likely to face off against third seed Emma Navarro in the quarterfinals, and against second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the top half of the draw includes the likes of Jessica Pegula, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Caroline Wozniacki and Marta Kostyuk. Fernandez will be looking to win the fourth WTA title of her career at the tournament, with her previous one coming at the Hong Kong Open last year. Before that, she lifted the trophy at the Monterrey Open in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022.
The 21-year-old currently has a 6-4 win/loss record for the year, with her biggest win coming over Zheng Qinwen in Qatar.
