Fernandez, Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals
CBC
Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will headline the Canadian lineup for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour's singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list.
Last November, Marina Stakusic, Fernandez swept singles matches for Canada's first title win in Spain.
The latter won all five of her matches this week, helping Canada advance to the final.
Canada's previous best showing at this event came in 1988 when it fell to the Czech Republic in the semifinals.
"Everyone's put in literal blood, sweat, and tears over the years," Dabrowski, an Ottawa native, said a year ago. "Like, literal blood, sweat, and tears. It's felt like on one hand like a huge relief, but in the most positive way that I could say it. It's like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders."
Stakusic, the virtually unknown rookie last year, grabbed headlines early in the tournament. Ranked 258th in the world, she was selected by El Tabakh over the more experienced Rebecca Marino (ranked 176th) and Eugenie Bouchard (273rd) in the team's first match Wednesday and beat 65th-ranked Rebeka Masarova 6-3, 6-1.
A day later, Stakusic upset No. 63 Magdalena Frech of Poland 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to send Canada to the semifinals for the first time in 35 years. She opened the best-of-three tie with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Martina Trevisan to improve to 3-1 on the week.
The roster, released Monday by Tennis Canada, also includes Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., Vancouver's Marino and Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will play the winner of Great Britain and Germany in the quarterfinals on Nov. 17 at Malaga, Spain. The tournament will continue through Nov. 20.
Canadian Paralympic Committee CEO Karen O'Neill acknowledges the team’s showing at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games wasn't the same as past years.
Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith capped their memorable Paralympic debut with bronze in the men's visually impaired slalom on Sunday at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.
Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night in Houston to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Canada's Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women's standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
Canada made wheelchair curling history on Thursday as the first team at any Paralympics to complete round-robin play without a loss.
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
Canada's Mark Arendz collected his 14th career Paralympic medal while teammate Brittany Hudak earned her fourth in Wednesday's standing cross-country skiing races at Milano Cortina.
Alphonso Davies covered his face with his shirt as he left the field with an injury in Bayern Munich's game against Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday in Bergamo, Italy, raising questions about the Canadian star's availability for the World Cup.
Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women's standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.
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Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith continued their impressive Paralympic debut on Monday by racing to bronze in the men's visually impaired super-G for their second medal.