Canada will be one of 12 teams competing in the Billie Jean King Cup (BJK) Cup finals this November. Fighting through a tough weekend, Canada’s 3-2 series win over Belgium marked Canada’s first win against Belgium at the BJK Cup in their four times meeting; a victory made even sweeter by a home crowd at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.
Going into this season, Team Canada consisted of some of the highest-ranked women’s tennis players the nation has brought to the competition. Widely known stars Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Annie Fernandez are ranked in the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) top 50 and have won five singles titles. Gabriela Dabrowski is ranked 7th overall in doubles matches, has 13 titles, and has represented Canada at the BJK Cup in doubles since 2013. Rebecca Marino is currently ranked 79th overall and made it to the third round of the US Open in 2022.
However, tragedy struck when Andreescu tore her ankle ligaments at the Miami Open a few weeks before the qualifiers. Katherine Sebov, a newcomer who made her grand slam debut at this year’s Australian Open, stepped in to take Andreescu’s place.
Fernandez opened the series in Match 1 with a 6-0, 6-3 easy win over Yanina Wickmayer. In Match 2, Marino lost 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 in three sets to Ysaline Bonaventure, ranked 84 in singles. Fernandez brought Canada back into the lead with a Match 3 win, but Sebov couldn’t close against Greet Minnen in Match 4, losing in Set 3.
Dabrowski and Fernandez were the duo that won the doubles tiebreaker 6-1, 6-2. Dabrowski was clutch with her doubles match-up mastery, always in the right place for tricky returns, and with a swift backhand. Fernandez’s powerful forehand paired well with Dabrowski and kept Belgium in the back of the court to give Canada the win.
Roland Garros is coming up on May 28, the next grand slam on the WTA calendar—and a chance to see Fernandez, Andreescu, and Marino play again as they wait for the Billie Jean King challenger.
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.