After an intense week of hard-fought tennis, the Canadian women’s tennis team won the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time ever after defeating Italy in the finals on Nov. 12th.
Leylah Fernandez secured Canada’s title by beating Italian Jasmine Paolini in match two of the finals to sweep the Italians 2-0 in the tie. Fernandez, the 35th-ranked player in WTA Singles Ranking, dominated Paolini – ranked 30th – to win the match 6-2, 6-3.
“I can finally say this: we’re world champions, and we rightfully deserve it,” Fernandez said. “We worked really hard the past years, and we just keep improving.”
The 21-year-old dominated throughout the competition, winning all six of her singles matches along with both of her doubles matches.
Fernandez won her opening match of the week in pool play, defeating Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in back-to-back tiebreakers before making quick work of Poland’s Magda Linette the next day.
After the Canadian squad dropped the first match of the best-of-three tie to the Czechs, the 2021 US Open Runner-up came in clutch for her team. The Montreal-native won both her singles and doubles match against Czechia in the semifinals to keep Canada’s title hopes alive.
Fernandez beat Marketa Vondrousova in a three-set thriller – 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 – setting up the do-or-die doubles match with teammate Gabriela Dabrowski.
The Canadian duo, who both rank within the top 20 in WTA Doubles Ranking, edged out the Czechia pair in the highly compelling match. The Canadians won 7-5, 7-6(3) to continue their magical run, as Dabrowski won her fourth of four doubles matches in the tournament.
“It means so much, it’s an incredibly special moment to share with everyone sitting here and our team also waiting for us back in the locker room,” said Dabrowski, the 2023 US Open Doubles Champion. “It’s like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.”
In lifting the weight off their shoulders, 18-year-old Marina Stakusic came up huge for Canada.
Stakusic, the 261st-ranked player in the world – who was named the ITF Player of the Month for September – defeated three top-70 opponents. One of those huge victories included defeating 42nd-ranked Martina Trevisan – 7-5, 6-3 – to give Canada the pivotal 1-0 advantage over Italy.
Stakusic also picked up two crucial wins in pool play over Spain’s Rebeka Masarova and Poland’s Magdalena Frech to finish her inaugural Billie Jean King Cup with a 3-1 singles record.
Also contributing to Canada’s success was 2014 Wimbledon Runner-up, Eugenie Bouchard.
Bouchard won both of her doubles matches with Dabrowski in straight sets, as the 29-year-old is hoping to re-gain the form that propelled her to number five in the WTA Singles Ranking in October of 2014.
“It’s special for my career to be able to add this to my resume personally,” Bouchard said. “All these times I get to play for my country has been super special. This is just, like, the cherry on top to be able to say we’re champions.”
With the win, Canada qualifies directly into next year’s tournament, and they’ll be eager to defend their throne as Billie Jean King Cup Champions.
For more information on the Canadian women’s tennis team, head to tenniscanada.com.