Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Fernandez, Rebecca Marino and Gabriela Dabrowski will represent Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in Vancouver, Team Canada announced Tuesday.
The matches will take place on April 14-15 at the Pacific Coliseum, with Canada set to face off against Belgium for the first time since 2009.
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“In Leylah, Bianca, Gabriela and Rebecca, our roster has a perfect mix of high quality and experience,” former WTA player Heidi El Tabakh, who will return as Canada’s team captain for the tie, said in a statement.
“We look forward to welcoming our opponents, Belgium, to Canada and expect them to provide a tough test. We are, however, confident we have what it takes to secure the win we need to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals for the third year running.”
Head-to-head, Belgium holds a 3-0 advantage over Canada in Billie Jean King Cup action. The winner of the tie qualifies for the finals in November.
Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion and Canada’s highest ranked player on the WTA Tour at No. 36, will play her first home Billie Jean King Cup tie since 2018. The Mississauga, Ont., native has climbed nine spots in the world rankings since the start of 2023.
It will mark Andreescu’s 11th time playing in a Billie Jean King Cup tie. The 22-year-old, who’s ranked No. 36 in the world, has a record of 11 wins and four losses.
Fernandez, of Laval, Que., has been playing a mix of singles and doubles in 2023 and already has a finals appearance under her belt, reaching the championship match at the ASB Classic with American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The world No. 46 has won eight of her 11 previous Billie Jean King Cup contests.
Rounding out the team are Vancouver’s Marino, who has moved back inside the Top 100 for the first time since 2012 and is currently ranked No. 75, and Ottawa’s Dabrowski, a two-time Grand Slam mixed doubles winner, who is currently ranked No. 6 in women’s doubles.
It’s also the second year in a row Canada has hosted a Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers tie in Vancouver. Canada beat Latvia 4-0 back in April 2022 with a team consisting of Fernandez, Marino, Dabrowski and Carol Zhao.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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