Canada qualified for the final of the Billie Jean King Cup, the unofficial women’s world team tennis championship, for the first time in its history.
In Seville, Leylah Fernandez, Marina Stakusic, Rebecca Marino, Eugenie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski played a great match and eliminated the 11-time champions Czech Republic with 2-1. In title contention later, the Canadians will face four-time champions Italy, who beat Slovenia 2-0 to reach their first final since 2013.
“I’m just ecstatic. I’m extremely proud of our team spirit and effort. It was one of our toughest matches because we were playing against some of the best tennis players and the best team in the world. It was such a tough test for us , but we were super excited, motivated and wanted to do it. Now I can’t wait for the final against Italy”, commented Leylah Fernandez.
Leylah Fernandez enjoyed a night to remember, culminating in her success in a crucial doubles match alongside Gabriela Dabrowski against seven-time Grand Slam champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova by 2-0 (7:5, 7:6) in 1:49 hours.
Leylah Fernandez, 21, spent a total of three hours and 51 minutes on court to extend her impressive tournament record to 15 wins in 16 matches. She also gave hope to her team, equalizing at 1-1 with a 2-1 (6:2, 2:6, 6:3) win over world the world’s No 8 Marketa Vondrousova, her first win over a top-10 player since the 2021 US Open.
In the first singles, Barbora Krejcikova won against the teenage Marina Stakusic by 2-0 (6:2, 6:1) in 83 minutes, but then the Canadians made a comeback and continued to the final.
