The Billie Jean King Cup, the premier women’s tennis tournament between national teams, returns to Canada in Vancouver, where the Maple Leaf will meet Belgium in a qualifier on April 14-15 at the Pacific Coliseum.
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This is the second year in a row that Canada has hosted a qualifier for this competition in the capital of British Columbia. Last April, Canadians Leylah Annie Fernandez, Rebecca Marino, Gabriela Dabrowski, Carol Zhao and Françoise Abanda defeated the Latvians 4-0 at the same venue.
The captain of Canada, ranked seventh in the world, Heidi El Tabakh also believes her players will enjoy the privilege of playing in the country.
“We are very pleased to welcome our opponents to Vancouver for this qualifier,” she said in a press release. We felt the blessing of our fans last year […] and we look forward to playing to a hall full of proud Canadians next April. Your support will definitely give us an important advantage in this big challenge because Belgium are a very talented team. Our goal is to earn a place in the finals and fight for the world title.
The composition of the team is not known and will be announced a few weeks before the competition, but the country ranked seventh in the world should count on its best elements like Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu, Tennis Canada said. In 2022, the country took part in the final but failed to sneak into the semifinals, finishing second in its group in the preliminary round.
Her closest competitors are 14th and their best player, Elise Mertens, is 32nd in the WTA circuit in singles.
In Vancouver, the duel between Canada and Belgium will open on April 14 with two singles games. Three duels are scheduled for the next day, including one in doubles.