Tennis Canada​ – All matches to be broadcast on Sportsnet Now and TVA Sports 2; Tickets still available for as low as $25 per day

Montreal, April 21, 2017 – The official draw for the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II play-off tie between Canada and Kazakhstan took place Friday at Montreal City Hall. The tie will be played indoors at Uniprix Stadium from April 22-23, 2017.  

The Canadian Fed Cup team featuring Francoise Abanda (Montreal, QC), Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON), Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), and Katherine Sebov (Toronto, ON) will take on Kazakhstan in two singles matches on Saturday, and two singles and one doubles match on Sunday. Canadian Fed Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau will helm the squad as they compete for a spot in the World Group II for 2018.

Françoise Abanda and Bianca Andreescu were selected by Bruneau to play singles, while the Kazakh team captain Dias Doskarayev nominated Yulia Putintseva and Yaroslava Shvedova. Although Andreescu is currently the youngest player on the team, at 16 years of age, she is already ranked in the Top 200 and currently holds a perfect Fed Cup record. Abanda has been a member of the Fed Cup team since 2015 and has posted notable wins over players ranked in the Top 100. For their part, the two singles players from Kazakhstan, Putintseva and Shvedova, are already among the world elite, with both hovering around the Top 50.
 
The doubles teams will be Gabriela Dabrowski and Katherine Sebov for Canada and Yaroslava Shvedova and Galina Voskoboeva for Kazakhstan.

Today’s draw produced the following weekend match-ups:
 

Event	Representing Canada	Representing Kazakhstan
1st Singles Rubber – Saturday April 22, 1 p.m. ET	Bianca Andreescu	Yulia Putintseva
2nd Singles Rubber – Saturday April 22	Françoise Abanda	Yaroslava Shvedova
3rd Singles Rubber – Sunday, April 23, 12 p.m. ET	Françoise Abanda	Yulia Putintseva
4th Singles Rubber – Sunday, April 23	Bianca Andreescu	Yaroslava Shvedova
Doubles Rubber – Sunday, April 23	Gabriela Dabrowski / Katherine Sebov	Yaroslava Shvedova / Galina Voskoboeva

 
“Although our girls are coming in to this weekend with less experience, they are up to the challenge. The team performed well in Mexico earlier this year and showed their desire to get back in to the World Group II next year,” stated Canadian captain Sylvain Bruneau. “Our players want to win. They have the drive and the desire to not only compete, but to win.”

2015 and 2016 proved very challenging for the Canadian squad in World Group play. The draw was not kind to Canada when it pitted the team against the Czech Republic, a five-time champion in the past six years. After a string of losses against Romania, Belarus and Slovakia, it was back to square one. Canada was banished to the qualifying round of Americas Zone Group I.

This year’s young team fought their way out of the Americas zone and hope to reclaim Canada’s place among the world elite. But first, it must get past Kazakhstan. With two players hovering around the WTA Top 50—Yulia Putintseva (31) and Yaroslava Shvedova (51), who is also Top 10 in doubles—the team is poised to shine brighter than ever. Until this season, Kazakhstan’s best performance was a World Group II playoff in 2013 that ended in a 4-1 loss to France. 
 
Tickets still available
Tickets for the Fed Cup presented by BNP Paribas are still available and start at just $25 or $40 for the weekend. There is also a special rate for kids aged 12 and under at $15 per day or $20 for the weekend. Tickets can be purchased by calling 514-790-1245, or online at www.admission.com.  
 
Matches will start at 1 p.m. on Saturday April 22 with the presentation of two singles matches. Sunday’s lineup will feature two singles matches followed by a doubles match beginning at 12 p.m.
 
The tie will be broadcast on TVA Sports 2 and Sportsnet Now.
 
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 107 nations entered in 2017. The competition is 54 years old having been founded in 1963. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup. Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) is an international sponsor, while 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, https://www.facebook.com/FedCup and www.Weibo.com/fedcupofficial.
 
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, 8 professional ITF sanctioned events and financially supports 15 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 (Toronto):
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       416-665-9777 ext. 4092, or nwatts@tenniscanada.com