On Monday, Tennis Canada introduced that Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON), Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC), Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC), and Marina Stakusic (Mississauga, ON) had been chosen to characterize Staff Canada on the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals in Malaga, Spain. The Finals run from November 13 to twenty, with Canada set to tackle the winner of Nice Britain and Germany within the quarter-finals on November 17.
“Profitable the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and never solely that, however I really feel like we made an announcement to the world concerning the power of this nation on the subject of tennis,” mentioned Staff Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh. “As soon as once more, we now have a really robust crew this yr with Bianca [Andreescu] becoming a member of Leylah [Fernandez], Gaby [Dabrowski], Rebecca [Marino], and Marina [Stakusic], making it a particularly highly effective crew that’s greater than able to going all the best way. On the finish of the day, our aim is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our greatest to carry the identical stage of effort and pleasure that we had in final yr’s Finals.”
Andreescu, 24, has now acquired her ninth crew nomination on the Billie Jean King Cup. Because of harm, the previous world No. 4 has spent a lot of her 2024 season away from the courts and is at present ranked 167th on the planet. Regardless of her shortened season, Andreescu managed to succeed in the third spherical of two Grand Slam occasions – at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon – and even reached the ultimate of the Libema Open, a WTA 250 match within the Netherlands. The Mississauga native final performed on the Billie Jean King Cup in 2022 and at present holds a report of 11 wins and 4 losses within the competitors.
Ottawa’s Dabrowski, world No. 4 in doubles, will likely be representing her nation on the occasion for the twentieth time. For the reason that begin of the season, the 2023 US Open champion has reached 5 finals, most notably at Wimbledon and the Nationwide Financial institution Open offered by Rogers. She made Canadian historical past this summer season by profitable Canada’s first blended doubles medal on the Olympic Video games, capturing bronze alongside Félix Auger-Aliassime. She additionally gained a WTA 250 title on the Rothesay Open with associate Erin Routliffe of New Zealand. Dabrowski will enter this yr’s Finals on a seven-match profitable streak in Billie Jean King Cup competitors.
Fernandez, who’s Canada’s top-ranked singles participant (No. 26) and second in doubles (No. 42), is having fun with an ideal 2024 marketing campaign. She reached two WTA 1000 quarter-finals, in Doha, Qatar, and Cincinnati, Ohio. Different highlights embody a finals look on the Rothesay Worldwide Eastbourne, a WTA 500 occasion, in addition to a second-place end in Cincinnati in doubles, with associate Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. The 22-year-old gears as much as characterize Canada for the ninth time, with a report of 12 wins (eight in a row) and three losses on the occasion.
For the twelfth time in her profession, Marino, world No. 134, has been named to Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup crew. The 33-year-old Vancouverite is in nice kind, having gained two ITF W100 occasions this season, the most important titles of her profession. Marino at present holds a report of 7-9 on the Billie Jean King Cup, recording her final victory in her hometown on the 2022 Qualifier tie in Vancouver towards Latvia.
Rounding out the crew is 19-year-old Stakusic. She made her Billie Jean King Cup debut final November, profitable three of her 4 matches. At present ranked No. 128 on the planet, Stakusic has taken a giant step ahead this yr, qualifying for her first Grand Slam principal draw at Wimbledon, and profitable main-draw matches at WTA 500 and 1000 tournaments, notably reaching the quarter-finals of the Guadalajara Open in Mexico final week.
Canada will look to change into the primary crew since Czechia in 2016 to efficiently defend its Billie Jean King Cup title. Their street to the title begins with a quarter-final match at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Area towards both Germany or Nice Britain.
For extra info on the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, click on right here.
