New and Familiar Faces Make Up Team Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals Roster: Meet the Team

With the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup finals just around the corner, Team Canada presented by Sobeys will look to secure its first ever title at the women’s team event.

The tournament will take place in Seville, Spain, with its host country finding itself in Group C alongside Canada and Poland.

This year’s Canadian squad will feature Leylah Annie Fernandez, Rebecca Marino, Gabriela Dabrowski, Eugenie Bouchard, and Marina Stakusic.

Here’s everything you need to know about Team Canada ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Leylah Annie Fernandez

Rank: 35
Billie Jean King Cup Ties Played: 7
Billie Jean King Cup Record: 11-3
2023 Record: 37-24

Leylah Annie Fernandez’s second appearance at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals comes off the heels of her first title victory of 2023 at the Hong Kong Open in October.

A year ago, Fernandez helped bring three key victories in their two ties against Italy and Switzerland, the latter of which won it all. The 2022 cup saw bits of greatness from Fernandez who brushed aside Italy with ease. It also saw a few moments of hardships against the eventual champions.

The loss didn’t sit well with Fernandez who was on fire during the qualifiers against Belgium back in April. She both of her singles matches and dominated her doubles match alongside Gabriela Dabrowski.

Rebecca Marino

Rank: 166
Billie Jean King Cup Ties Played: 9
Billie Jean King Cup Record: 7-9
2023 Record: 19-27

Despite a down year in 2023, Rebecca Marino showed was strong at the 2023 Pan American Games. She made it to the semifinals and finished in fourth place overall, showing that her recent struggles may have been more of a blip than a sign of things to come.

She’s also appeared in the main draw of each of the four Grand Slams this year, though each resulted in a first-round loss. After her final Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon, Marino reached the semifinals of the W100 in Granby.

Currently ranked No. 166, the Canadian will look to gain some momentum during the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Gabriela Dabrowski

Rank: 7 (doubles)
Billie Jean King Cup Ties Plays: 20
Billie Jean King Cup Record: 12-12
2023 Record: 29-17

As Canada’s secret weapon for the doubles matches, Gabriela Dabrowski will be on the hunt for more big victories.

This year alone, she and her partner Erin Routliffe have taken home two trophies with one of them coming at the US Open. She followed her Grand Slam victory with a second run at the Zhengzhou Open, where she faced little trouble en route to the title.

As she seeks to walk away from the WTA Finals with her third title of the year, she’ll likely be carrying some momentum into the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. If Dabrowski and Fernandez can maintain the elite form they’ve demonstrated in the qualifiers earlier this year and the Group Stage of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in 2022, they should be a force to keep an eye on.

Eugenie Bouchard

Rank: 266
Billie Jean King Cup Ties Played: 10
Billie Jean King Cup Record: 13-4
2023 Record: 11-11

Eugenie Bouchard is returning to Team Canada for the first time since 2018 where she helped best Ukraine with two singles wins.

The Canadian has been somewhat quiet of late, tending to injuries through much of 2021 and 2022. She returned to play in August 2022, but has struggled to find her footing. Given her evenly split win-loss record of 2023, she’ll be looking to find her old self at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Bouchard’s furthest run of the year came during the Firenze Open when she reached the quarter-finals but was forced to retire against Sara Errani. Should Bouchard be healthy next week, she should be able to positively contribute to Team Canada.

Marina Stakusic

Rank: 319
Billie Jean King Cup Ties Played: Debut
Billie Jean King Cup Record: N/A
2023 Record: 18-4

If there’s any up-and-coming Canadian tennis player to keep an eye on, it’s Marina Stakusic. After showing lots of promise throughout the years, it’s in 2023 that the 18-year-old truly broke out.

Prior to the announcement that she’d been included in Team Canada’s roster for the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Finals, she notched a pair of ITF titles at the W60 in Berkeley and the W25 Valladolid, Spain. She continued her fiery run in October when she took home her third title of the year at the Tevlin Challenger.

Since 2021, Stakusic has seen her global ranking rise from No. 1250 all the way up to No. 319. Of course, there’s still plenty of work to do, but a strong showing at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals could certainly help propel to future stardom.

Written By

Louis Pavlakos