Tennis News: Canada made history by winning the Billie Jean King Cup title for the first time after defeating Italy in the 2023 season finale held in Seville, Spain.

Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez's convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Italian Jasmine Paolini confirmed Canada's new status and saw the Canadian women follow in the footsteps of the Canadian men who won the Davis Cup title last year. last season.

In the opening singles match, the young Canadian tennis player who caused a sensation at the Billie Jean King Cup this season, Martina Stakusic, was unstoppable and managed to win 7-5, 6- 3 on the Italian tennis player Martina Trevisan.

Names like Annie Fernandez, Stakusic, Rebecca Marino, Eugénie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski will now be forever connected to the world of Canadian tennis thanks to this monumental achievement.

“I feel so happy,” exclaimed Annie Fernandez. “For the first time, Canada won the Billie Jean King Cup and I can finally say: 'We are world champions' and we deserve it.”

“We've been training really hard the last few seasons, like I said before, every season we've only gotten better and better and it shows on the pitch. It showed in this competition and now it’s shown on the biggest stage.

The 2021 US Open finalist put in impressive performances throughout the women's team competition, from the group stage to the final, having won all five matches she played in both singles and doubles.

Stakusic also announced himself to the tennis world and won three times, including a late victory against world number 43 Trevisan. The only loss she suffered was against world number 10 Barbora Krejcikova.

“It’s definitely not something I imagined happening here,” Stakusic said.

“As time goes on and I train with them all the time, I know we will gain confidence and truly believe in ourselves. It was a great week and I'm glad I was able to spend it with them.

For her part, the captain of the Canadian team, Heidi El Tabakh, declared: “I feel proud and it was really fun to be able to share the field with them all week. Everyone here right now is a huge asset to the Canadian team. We wouldn't be here without them. »

Article keywords: Tennis, Billie Jean King Cup, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Martina Stakusic