Canada to face Italy in the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup

Leylah Annie Fernandez (Twitter)

Team Canada is in the finals of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup where they will take on Team Italy in Seville, Spain on Sunday. The Canadians are looking for their first Billie Jean King Cup title, while the Italians have won four times.

The Italians previously won in 2006 over Belgium in Charleroi, Belgium, in 2009 over the United States in Reggio Calabria, Italy, in 2010 over the United States in San Diego, California, and in 2013 over Russia in Cagliari, Italy. The Italian stars in this time period were 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, Mara Santangelo, 2015 United States Open finalist Roberta Vinci, 2015 United States Open champion Flavia Pennetta, and 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani.

The 2023 Italian stars on Saturday in the semifinals were 2022 French Open semifinalist Martina Trevisan. and Jasmine Paolini. Trevisan defeated Kajan Juvan of Slovenia 7-6, 6-3. Paolini beat Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Canada’s Saturday stars were Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec (the 2021 United States Open finalist) and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, Ontario. Even though Dabrowski does not have a strong singles resume, she has won three grand slam titles in doubles. On Saturday, Fernandez beat Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Fernandez then teamed up with Dabrowski to beat Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 7-5. 7-6. It was a dominant second set tiebreak for Dabrowski and Fernandez as they won 7-3. Dabrowski’s three grand slam doubles titles in the past have been with Rohan Bopanna of India (2017 French Open mixed doubles), Mate Pavic of Croatia (2018 Australian Open mixed doubles), and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand (2023 United States Open women’s doubles).