Last year, Leylah Fernandez had a flawless singles performance, playing a key role in leading Canada to its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup victory. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images for ITF)
Canada is gearing up to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title as the prestigious women’s tennis tournament begins this week in Malaga, Spain. Following this, the men’s Davis Cup Finals will also be hosted at the same venue. For now, the focus is on the Billie Jean King Cup, which Canada unexpectedly won last year, capturing its first-ever title.
This tournament, which began in 1963 as the Federation Cup and later became the Fed Cup, was renamed in 2020 to honour Billie Jean King, a tennis legend and advocate for equality. Often called the "World Cup of tennis," the Billie Jean King Cup has a qualification process involving 16 teams. Winners from the qualifying round earlier in April earned their spots in the 12-team Finals. As defending champions, Canada, along with last year’s runner-up Italy, host Spain, and the Czech Republic, received direct entry to this stage without qualifying.
Four teams, including Canada, Italy, Australia, and the Czech Republic, also secured byes to the quarterfinals. Canada will compete on Sunday against whoever wins Friday’s match between Germany and Great Britain. Italy will meet Japan or Romania, Australia will play the winner between Slovakia and the United States, and the Czech team will face Spain or Poland. Severe weather delayed the initial matches involving Spain and Poland.
Matches in this tournament are structured as best-of-three contests, known as “ties,” consisting of two singles matches followed by a decisive double match if needed. Captains choose which players will compete in each match, and athletes can participate in singles and doubles.
Canada will field a team similar to the one that triumphed in Seville last year. Captain Heidi El Tabakh will lead singles standout Leylah Fernandez, doubles expert Gabriela Dabrowski, rising star Marina Stakusic, and seasoned player Rebecca Marino. Bianca Andreescu was initially slated to play but withdrew due to health concerns, leaving El Tabakh with a four-player roster.
Fernandez, ranked 31st globally, was crucial to last year’s victory. Her stunning win over Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova helped push Canada to the finals. Partnering with Dabrowski, Fernandez overcame the Czech Republic’s accomplished doubles duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova to reach the final, defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini to secure Canada’s first win.
Stakusic, 19, surprised many with her performances last year, winning three out of four singles matches despite her low ranking. Now ranked 127th, she has shown significant growth, qualifying for Wimbledon this year and winning a tournament in Mexico.
Dabrowski is also in top form, recently winning the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia with her partner Erin Routliffe and earning a bronze at the Paris Olympics with Felix Auger-Aliassime. Marino, ranked 103rd in singles, is coming off a win at the Dow Tennis Classic in Michigan.
