Canada defeated Italy to win the Billy Jean King Cup for the first time in its history in the final played on Sunday in the Spanish city of Seville.
For their outstanding performances this week in the most significant women’s tennis team tournament, Canada claimed a prize of 2.4 million US dollars. The first singles match saw 18-year-old Marina Stakusic defeat Martina Trevisan 7-5, 6-3, to put the Canadians on the winning track.
Trevisan was undefeated going into the final in Seville, but Stakusic proved that team competitions differ greatly from individual ones by defeating her world ranking of 258 to claim a historic victory.
For the first time since 2013, the Italians were in the Billy Jean King Cup final, while the Canadians defeated the Czech Republic on Saturday to advance to their first-ever Billy Jean King Cup final.
Canada had a 3-0 victory over Italy in the 2022 group stage in their memory, and they had a player leading into Sunday’s tie in Leylah Fernandez, who had won 15 of her previous 16 games in the competition.
In an hour and forty-nine-minute match, Fernandez turned on the style to defeat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3, leaving her opponent with few options. This made Canada the thirteenth team to win the tournament.
🇨🇦 WORLD CHAMPIONS 🇨🇦
Canada win the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time in their history, becoming the 13th nation to win the World Cup of Tennis 🏆#BJKCupFinals | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/LOoZ6QBvPK
— Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) November 12, 2023
Marina Stakusic in 2023
Now the world no.261, Marina played her last match on the 12th of November when she overcame world no.42 Martina Trevisan 7-5 6-3 in the Rubber 1 in (draw).
This season the Canadian has a 26-5 win-loss record. Marina has won 3 titles in 2023 Valladolid, Berkeley and Toronto.
Leylah Fernandez in 2023
Currently ranked no.36, Fernandez played her last match on the 12th of November when she overcame world no.30 Jasmine Paolini 6-2 6-3 in the Rubber 2 in (draw).
At the moment, during this season Leylah has a 41-24 record. Fernandez has won 1 title in Hong Kong.
Marina Stakusic and Leylah Fernandez have never faced off.
Eugenie Bouchard in 2023
Ranked world no.276, Eugenie played her last match on the 18th of September when she was defeated by world no.19 Veronika Kudermetova 6-2 6-7(4) 6-4 in the 2nd round in Guadalajara (draw).
This year Bouchard has a 11-11 match record.
Marina Stakusic, Leylah Fernandez and Eugenie Bouchard |
| Embed from Getty Images |
