By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday November 13, 2023
Canada won it's first Billie Jean King Cup, sweeping past Team Italy in the final in Seville.
Photo Source: Getty
Canada joined a long line of nations that have won the Billie Jean King Cup title on Sunday in Seville, Spain, defeating Italy 2-0 to cap its dream run to the crown.
18-year-old Marina Stakusic continued her rise to relevance, defeating Martina Trevisan, 7-5, 6-3, and Leylah Fernandez clinched Canada’s prize with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Jasmine Paolini to help Canada become the 13th champion in Billie Jean King Cup history.
"I'm extremely happy, ecstatic," Fernandez told reporters. "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.
"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 in the biggest stage in the world."
Fernandez has now won 16 of the last 17 Billie Jean King Cup ties she has contested. The Montreal-born 21-year-old has equalled Eugenie Bouchard, Stephanie Dubois and Sonya Jeyaseelan in third place on the list for most Billie Jean King Cup match wins for Team Canada. She is 16-3 overall at BJK Cup, and 12-3 in singles.
Stakusic earned the first three Top-100 wins of her career in Seville this week. She topped Spain’s Rebeka Masarova, Poland’s Magdalena Frech and Trevisan.
Stakusic, who earned the callup to play with Team Canada based on her remarkable play on the ITF circuit in September and October, has now won 20 of her last 22 matches.
"It's definitely not what I imagined coming here, but as the week went on and just training with these girls all the time, I knew that we all were gaining confidence and we really believe in ourselves," the elated 18-year-old said. "It all ended up paying off in the end. It's been an incredible week, and I'm super happy I got to spend it with these women."
Canada’s triumph marks the second consecutive year that Canada has won one of tennis crown jewels. The men won the Davis Cup in 2022.
Canada, who defeated the Czechs in the semifinals, 2-1, topped four-time BJK Cup champion Italy 3-0 in the Group Stage last year, and improves to 4-1 over the Italians in Billie Jean King Cup.