Tennis Canada – Montreal, January 27, 2016 – Tennis Canada announced Wednesday that Françoise Abanda (Montreal, QC), Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), Aleksandra Wozniak (Blainville, QC) and Carol Zhao (Richmond Hill, ON) will represent Canada for the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II tie against Belarus on February 6 and 7. The tie will be played at PEPS on the campus of Laval University in Quebec City.  

The Canadian squad will face a fast rising team from Belarus that qualified for World Group II for the third time in the country’s history in 2015. Victoria Azarenka, who just reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, will lead the Belarusian quartet. The world no. 16 will be joined by Olga Govortsova (no. 70), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (no. 105), and Vera Lapko (no. 533).

“We are aware that we are facing a very dangerous team,” said Canadian Fed Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau. “They have an elite player in Victoria Azarenka, and they also have depth. Our team is composed of both young and experienced players. We want to make sure to have a very good week of training in Quebec City and take advantage of playing at home. We will be ready for some big battles.”

After making her debut last year, Abanda will be making her third Fed Cup appearance. The 18-year-old earned the biggest win of her career last April against Romania when she defeated then world no. 33 Irina-Camelia Begu. For her part, Dabrowski is this squad’s top ranked player in singles (no. 336) and doubles (no. 46). She has won two WTA doubles titles, in Washington in 2014 and in Monterrey last season. Wozniak returns to Fed Cup after being forced to sit out last year because of a shoulder injury. The 28-year-old boasts a record of 39-9, making her one of the most prolific players in Canadian Fed Cup history. She holds the Canadian Fed Cup record for most wins (39), most singles wins (31), and most ties played (34). Lastly, Zhao is the rookie on the team. The 20-year-old has been a standout at the University of Stanford for the past two years and was a finalist at the NCAA Championships in 2015.

Tickets are available starting at $15* per day. A special rate of $9 per day is also available for students and kids. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-866-653-6203, or by clicking here.

* Taxes included, service fees not included.
 
About Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 101 nations entered in 2016. The competition is 53 years old having been founded in 1963. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup. International sponsors are Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and Betway (Official Betting Sponsor). beIN SPORTS is the Official Global Media Rights Partner. Follow all the action on www.fedcup.com, www.fedcup.com/es,www.twitter.com/fedcup, www.facebook.com/FedCup, www.Weibo.com/fedcupofficial and www.fedcup.tv.
 
About Tennis Canada
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and a vision to become a world-leading tennis nation. We value teamwork, passion, integrity, innovation and excellence. Tennis Canada owns and operates the premier Rogers Cup presented by National Bank WTA and ATP World Tour events, 10 professional ITF sanctioned events and financially supports 12 other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates junior national training centres/programs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the International Wheelchair Tennis Association, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Fed Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development. For more information on Tennis Canada please visit our Web site at: www.tenniscanada.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
 
 

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Media Contacts (Montreal):
Valerie Tetreault, Regional Manager, Communications and Media Relations
         514-273-1515 ext. 6259, vtetreault@tenniscanada.com             
           
Media Contacts (Toronto):
Sarah Grossman, National Manager, Communications and Media Relations, Professional Tennis
       416-650-7922, or sgrossman@tenniscanada.com
Nicole Watts, Manager, Communications
       416-665-9777 ext. 4092, or nwatts@tenniscanada.com

**Veuillez noter que Sylvain Bruneau participera à une conférence téléphonique avec les membres des médias aujourd’hui, à 13 h (HE), pour parler de la nomination des équipes en vue de la rencontre opposant le Canada au Bélarus.
 
Conférence téléphonique :
 
Qui :                   Sylvain Bruneau
Quand :              Mercredi 27 janvier, à 13 h
Où :                    1-866-651-2245