Leylah Fernandez and Marina Stakusic won their singles matches as Canada beat Italy 2-0 to claim its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup on Sunday.
Stakusic, ranked 258th in the world, put Canada ahead by defeating No. 43 Martina Trevisan 7-5, 6-3 for the biggest win of her career, then Fernandez sealed the victory by beating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3 at La Cartuja Stadium.
“We took a risk by selecting a young player, and it paid off,” said Canada’s coach Nathalie Tauziat.
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The 20th-ranked Fernandez, runner-up in the 2021 U.S. Open, was perfect for Canada in Seville with four victories, while the 18-year-old Stakusic entered the tournament without a win over a top 100 opponent but earned three of them while representing her nation in Spain.
“I’m extremely happy, ecstatic,” said Fernandez.
Canada had beaten 11-time champion Czech Republic in the semifinals, while four-time champion Italy advanced past Slovenia for its first final appearance since 2013.
The 12-team BJK Cup Finals offered a record total of $9.6 million in prize money, including $2.4 million to the champions, the same as the men’s Davis Cup.
Canada, captained by Heidi El Tabakh, is the 13th nation to win the Billie Jean King Cup, and the second new champion after Switzerland’s triumph in Glasgow a year ago.
“Leylah played her role as leader and that made all the difference,” said Tauziat. “She prepares like a boxer, ready to enter the ring, to receive blows and to give them.”
The Canada men’s team is the current Davis Cup champion.
The women’s teams competed in four round-robin groups, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. The United States was eliminated by the Czech Republic in a group that also included title-holder Switzerland.
The biggest team competition in women’s tennis started two days after the end of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, which featured the top eight players on the tour — including winner Iga Swiatek.
“You know, it’s the first time that Canada has ever won the Billie Jean King Cup. I can finally say this — we’re world champions, and we rightfully deserve it,” she said.
“We worked really hard the past years, and, you know, I think every year, as I said before, we just keep improving.”
“It’s showing on the tennis court. It’s showing in competition, individual competitions. Now it has shown on the biggest stage in the world.”
Italy continued their 10-year drought in the competition, known as the Fed Cup until 2020, having won the last of their four titles in 2013.
“It’s been a very tough week for me, mentally and of course physically,” said Trevisan.
“We spent a lot of energy on court and of course out of the court. Maybe today my physical energy was, well, a little bit low.
“I’m a player that need to be very fast on court, and today I wasn’t too much — it wasn’t enough.”
(With inputs from Agencies)
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