Team Canada Coming In Hot at Billie Jean King Cup 

Team Canada has every reason to be confident that they can defend their Billie Jean King Cup title over the coming days in Malaga. 

While the team that competes this year is nearly identical to the one that won the title a year ago, a lot of factors are working even more in the Canadians’ favour than in 2023. 

First of all, they have the championship pedigree. Leylah Annie Fernandez, Rebecca Marino, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Marina Stakusic have all won this title before. They know what it is going to take to lift the trophy. 

Second, each member of the team is arriving in Malaga in even better form than a year ago. 

Three of them have won titles in the last month. Dabrowski arrives fresh off a historic victory at the WTA Finals, while Marino and Stakusic both lifted WTA 125 trophies which were the biggest wins of both of their careers. 

“I’m feeling fantastic right now.  It’s really exciting to be coming in off that win [in Midland],” said Marino at Team Canada’s pre-event press conference on Friday. “A lot of confidence, especially coming into a team competition like this.” 

Marino’s WTA 125 victory was just last week and was her fourth title of 2024. All four of her victories this year were bigger than any title she had previously won. She is 18-2 in her last 20 matches. 

The fact that they are all coming in in good form is not lost on the members of Team Canada. 

“I’m coming in with a lot of confidence,” said Stakusic, who won her first WTA 125 trophy in October in Tampico, Mexico. “I know all of them are, as well. I’m just very happy to bring hopefully some good energy this week, and hopefully we can continue as we did last year.” 

“I’m fully aware that my teammates have also had fantastic years. I think we’re a really strong front and that makes me super excited to come in again. I’m very excited for everyone,” expressed Marino. 

While Fernandez may be the one team member who did not lift a trophy over the last month, she has posted some consistently solid results on tour, most recently reaching the semifinals in Hong Kong. In each of her last three events, she lost to an eventual finalist. 

Putting WTA Tour events aside, the Lavalloise is always a force to be reckoned with at the Billie Jean King Cup.  

Read also: Fernandez, Dabrowski, Stakusic, Marino Back to Defend Billie Jean King Cup Title – Meet Team Canada

Fernandez arrives on an eight-match winning streak in Billie Jean King Cup competition, winning every single one of her matches (in both singles and doubles) during the 2023 title run, including a perfect 5-0 record at the 2023 Finals.  

She won the tournament’s Heart Award, which “aims to recognise players who have represented their country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to the team during Billie Jean King Cup” twice in 2023. She has won it three times overall, the most of any player.  

Even though it has been a year since the women have suited up for Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup, all of them expressed their excitement to be back together in Spain. 

“It was a wonderful, wonderful week, 10 days that I spent with the team [in Seville in 2023].  I was having a wonderful time,” reflected Fernandez on last year’s title run. “We had Marina for the first time with us, so it was super cool to get to know her and then see her perform on court. And then of course the environment off court with the rest of the girls and the supporting staff, I think that was probably one of my favorite parts of the year.” 

As for the title defence, Fernandez said, “I’m excited to be here representing Canada with them, with the girls, and I do hope that we get the chance to do well and defend our title.  That’s our goal.” 

Canada will kick off their bid for a second consecutive title on Sunday against either Great Britain or Germany. They will learn their opponent later on Friday.  

CLICK HERE for everything you need to know about the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Viewers can watch Team Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals and Davis Cup Final 8 ties for free on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Sports’ official YouTube channel. The ties will also be available in French, as TVA Sports and TVA Sports Direct will be showing Canada’s matchups, as well as all semifinals and finals.