Overview
Team Canada’s bid to reclaim the Billie Jean King Cup begins this week in the Qualifiers. Canada will make the trip to Tokyo as they have been drawn in Group A with Japan and Romania. Only one of the three teams will advance to November’s Finals in Shenzhen, China.
Each country will play each other once, with the top team clinching the spot in Shenzhen. Every tie will feature three best-of-three matches, two singles matches and a doubles match. The No. 2 singles players from each country will play the opening match followed by the No. 1 singles players. Doubles will be the final match.
As this is a round robin, every match counts towards the standings. Therefore, doubles will always be played even if a country wins both singles matches.
Canada skipped the qualifying round in 2023 as defending champions.
Schedule
Friday, April 11: Canada vs. Romania (Matches begin at 1 pm local, midnight EDT)
Saturday, April 12: Japan vs. Romania
Sunday, April 13: Canada vs Japan (Matches being at 11 am local, 10 pm EDT on Saturday, April 12)
The Teams
Canada will be rolling out a very different lineup from previous years, with three members of the team making their first appearance in the Billie Jean King Cup at the professional level. Those three are Victoria Mboko, Kayla Cross, and Ariana Arseneault.
Rebecca Marino and Marina Stakusic, who were both part of the championship-winning team in 2023 and were on the team last November at the Finals in Malaga, Spain, are the only two members of Team Canada for this round with previous Billie Jean King Cup experience. Heidi El Tabakh is also back as captain.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the members of Team Canada.
Romania is also sending a young squad Tokyo, with every member of their team age 26 or younger. They are led by world No. 83 Anca Todoni. The team is composed of Todoni, Miriam Bulgaru, Georgia Craciun, Ilinca Amariei, and Mara Gae.
Japan is the most-experienced team in the group and also boasts the highest-ranked players. World No. 53 Moyuka Uchijima leads the way and is joined by world No. 104 Aoi Ito. The team also consists of three established doubles stars: Eri Hozumi, Shuko Aoyama, and Ena Shibahara.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Team Romania and Team Japan.
2024 Billie Jean King Cup
Canada was the defending champions at the Billie Jean King Cup, having won the title in 2023. Four of the five members of the championships team were back: Leylah Annie Fernandez, Gabriela Dabrowski, Marina Stakusic, and Rebecca Marino. Heidi El Tabakh was also back as captain.
The title defence came to an end in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals after a 2-0 loss to Great Britain.
The results are listed below:
Katie Boulter (GBR) d. Leylah Annie Fernandez (CAN) 6-2, 6-4: Read more
Emma Raducanu (GBR) d. Rebecca Marino (CAN) 6-0, 7-5: Read more
Read the analysis and player reactions: Magic Runs Out in Malaga for Canada at Billie Jean King Cup
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
