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Leylah Fernandez Leads Canada to Maiden Billie Jean King Cup Finals

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Leylah Fernandez has pulled off two big upsets to help lead Canada into a historic first appearance in the Billie Jean King Cup finals.

The 21-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis player pulled off gripping upset wins in singles and doubles at the Billie Jean King Cup in Seville, Spain on Saturday.

Leylah Fernandez Behind Fernandez’s two victories, Canada stunned 11-time champion Czech Republic 2-1 in Saturday’s semifinals. Canada, whose lone previous trip to the event’s semifinals was in 1988, will take on Italy for their first Billie Jean King Cup title on Sunday.

Four-time titlist Italy reached the championship match of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals for the first time in exactly a decade after Martina Trevisan and Jasmine Paolini picked up singles wins at the prestigious team event earlier on Saturday.

Canada had to battle back from a match down to reach the milestone. 2021 Roland Garros singles champion Barbora Krejcikova started the semifinal tie with a 6-2, 6-1 win over rising 18-year-old Marina Stakusic, who was facing a Top 10 player for the first time in her career.

However, Fernandez leveled the tie at 1-1 by upsetting reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Vondrousova had won her last 11 Billie Jean King Cup singles matches in straight sets — including a win over Fernandez in 2019 — but the Canadian ended that streak.

Fernandez earned the fifth Top 10 win of her career with the victory — and her first Top 10 win since she beat three Top 5 players en route to the 2021 US Open final. Fernandez had gone 0-7 against Top 10 players between the 2021 US Open and Saturday’s win.

Shortly thereafter, Fernandez returned to court, where she paired with reigning US Open doubles champion Gabriela Dabrowski to face the seven-time Grand Slam-winning duo of Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, with a trip to the final in the balance.

In the first set of the doubles match, there were no break points for either team until 5-5, where the Canadians broke through after Siniakova double faulted on deciding point. Dabrowski then held serve at love to squeak out the opening set.

The second set was even closer and went down to the tiebreak, where Fernandez slammed a backhand winner down the line to earn the first mini-break at 3-2. The Canadians never relinquished that advantage, holding on for a 7-5, 7-6(3) win and booking a historic spot in the final.

Leylah Fernandez Helps Lead Canada Into First Billie Jean King Cup Semifinal Since 1988

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Leylah Fernandez is celebrating a meaningful victory…

The 21-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis player has sealed Canada‘s place in the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals for the first time since 1988, with Italy also reaching the last four in Seville, Spain.

Leylah FernandezFernandez beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-2 6-3 after Marina Stakusic overcame Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-3.

Fernandez prevailed in a three-hour match against Sara Sorribes Tormo, which she described as a “bullfight,” to give Canada victory over Spain on Wednesday.

But, a day later, the world number 20 had a comfortable winner over Linette and said she was “proud and ecstatic” that her nation had ended a 35-year wait for a semifinal spot.

Teammates Gabriela Dabrowski and Eugenie Bouchard completed a 3-0 win over Poland – who are without world number one Iga Swiatek – with a 6-2 6-3 win against Weronika Falkowska and Katarzyna Kawa.

Martina Trevisan and Jasmine Paolini confirmed Italy’s progress from Group D with singles wins, before Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto edged a match tie-break against Friedsam and Laura Sigemund in the doubles – winning 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 11-9.

Record 18-time winners the USA, who would face Group C winners Canada should they top Group A, will aim for a last-four place against the Czech Republic on Friday after overcoming winless Switzerland.

Sofia Kenin, playing her first Billie Jean King Cup since 2020, clinched victory by beating Viktorija Golubic 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 7-5 after Danielle Collins won 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 against Celine Naef.

Sloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend ensured a clean sweep for the USA, winning 6-1 7-6 (7-3) against Jil Teichmann and Simona Waltert, as Switzerland’s title defense ended with back-to-back 3-0 losses.

In Group B, Australia beat Kazakhstan 2-1 after Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez won a third set match tie-break in their decisive doubles match against Anna Danilina and Yulia Putintseva, prevailing 6-1 4-6 (10-5).

Hunter had put Australia ahead by winning her singles match against Danilina 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 but Putintseva beat Kimberly Birrell 6-0 7-5 to level the tie.

Kazakhstan play Slovenia in their final group match, with Slovenia guaranteed to progress with victory following their opening win over Australia.

Twelve nations are taking part in the finals of the competition, which was formerly known as the Fed Cup, with teams split into four groups in the round-robin stage.

The group winners will advance to Saturday’s semifinals before the champions are crowned after Sunday’s final in Seville.

The winners will receive prize money of $2.4 million which is part of an overall payment pot of $9.6 million – a record figure for the event which matches the cash awarded in the men’s equivalent Davis Cup.