On Tuesday, Tennis Canada confirmed that Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON) will not be participating in the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals held in Malaga, Spain. The team, led by captain Heidi El Tabakh, will now comprise of Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC), Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC), Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), and Marina Stakusic (Mississauga, ON). They look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to defend their world title, starting with a quarter-final clash against the winner of Great Britain and Germany on November 17.
Battling injuries throughout the season, Andreescu returned to action for the first time since the 2024 US Open in October, playing in two events in Japan. She notably reached the quarter-finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis – a WTA 500 event. While the recent results are a step in the right direction for the 2019 US Open champion, rest and recovery are crucial in order for her to return to the circuit in top form.
“I’m disappointed not to be in a position to join the team in Malaga, but I have faith in their ability to defend the title,” said Andreescu. “Our team has a great energy and dynamic. If anyone can win back-to-back titles, it’s these players.”
“We are sad to see Bianca [Andreescu] withdraw from the team for the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, and we wish her the best as she attempts to return to 100 per cent health,” said El Tabakh, captain of Team Canada. “That said, we have a resilient and strong team that not only has the potential to win the tournament, but has proven they can do so with the historical victory in 2023. We also understand how difficult it can be to defend a title, not just in tennis but in all professional sports, and we look forward to the challenge and to getting things rolling in a few weeks’ time against either the Brits or the Germans.”
Heading into this year’s Finals, Fernandez and Dabrowski are on impressive win streaks in Billie Jean King Cup competition, winning eight and seven consecutive matches respectively. Marino and Stakusic, who both won WTA 125 titles in October at the Abierto Tampico – Marino in doubles and Stakusic in singles – are in great form ahead of the event in Malaga.
Tickets are available for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, including a 20 per cent discount for Canadian fans using promo code TEAMCAN here. For more information about the competition, including the match schedule, please click here.
About Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge
Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge is the women’s World Cup of Tennis. Previously known as the Fed Cup, it is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with a record 138 nations competing in 2024. Champions Canada took home an unprecedented $2.4m for their triumph at the 2023 Finals in Seville. Global partners of the event are Gainbridge, e.l.f. Beauty, Magellan, Microsoft, Tory
Burch and Stake.
About Tennis Canada
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth, development and promotion of tennis in Canada and a vision to be a world-leading tennis nation. We value teamwork, passion, integrity, innovation and excellence. Tennis Canada owns and operates the premier National Bank Open presented by Rogers WTA and ATP Tour events, four professional ATP and ITF sanctioned events and financially supports four 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 and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Billie Jean King 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 website at: www.tenniscanada.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram.
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