[MONTERREY, MX] November 15, 2025 – Team Canada is one step closer to advancing to the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Denmark in Group A of the 2025 Play-offs taking place at Club Sonoma in Monterrey, Mexico.
The No. 6-ranked Canadian team, led by first-time captain Marie-Ève Pelletier, filling in for regular captain Heidi El Tabakh, split the singles matches with Denmark, but prevailed in the decisive doubles match to win the tie and set up a winner-take-all matchup against Mexico on Sunday. Team Canada consists of Victoria Mboko (Burlington, ON), Marina Stakusic (Mississauga, ON), Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), Cadence Brace (Toronto, ON) and Carson Branstine (Montreal, QC).
In the first match, Brace, making her Billie Jean King Cup debut, fought hard throughout a tightly contested match that spanned three hours and 38 minutes, but ultimately, the No. 184-ranked Canadian came up just short against Denmark’s No. 652-ranked Rebecca Munk Mortensen, losing 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).
“The first match in singles was incredible,” said Pelletier. “I haven’t seen a fight like this in a long time. Cadence gave everything she had…That was her first experience, and I’m extremely proud of how she fought.”
With Canada in need of a win, the No. 18-ranked Mboko stepped up against Denmark’s Johanne Svendsen, defeating her 7-5, 6-3 in the second singles match to even the tie at a match apiece. Mboko was down 4-1 early in the first set but won six of the last seven games to storm back and take the opening frame. In the second set, Mboko broke the 554th-ranked Svendsen twice in the last three games of the set to secure the victory. The win improves Mboko’s record to a perfect 3-0 in singles matches at the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I just wanted to play it point by point and not rush myself, and just believe in myself,” Mboko said during an on-court interview on how she handled the pressure of Canada trailing 1-0.
In the decisive doubles match, Canada’s Mboko and Dabrowski beat the Danish team of Svendsen and Emma Kamper 6-2, 6-4. With the score tied 2-2, the Canadian pair won four straight games to win the opening set. Then, in the second, Mboko and Dabrowski used an early break to take control of the match.
“(In the second singles match), it was a tough start with 2-5 with the score, but Vicky came back as a champion, like she is,” Pelletier said. “She kept going for it, and she went and got the win, being aggressive and serving super well. And then the deciding doubles, the energy was amazing, the teamwork…they looked like they were having so much fun playing together, as well.”
With the win against Denmark secured, Canada will now play No. 20-ranked Team Mexico, who defeated Denmark 2-1 on Friday. The winner of Sunday’s tie will advance to next year’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, while the nations that finish in second and third place in the round-robin format will compete in their respective regional Group I event in 2026.
Watch the Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs live on TVA Sports, CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports YouTube channel. Sunday’s tie against Mexico will begin at 4 p.m. local, 5 p.m. ET.
About the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge
The 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 146 nations entered in 2025. Champions Italy took home $2.4mfor their triumph at the 2024 Finals in Malaga. Global partners of the event include Gainbridge, e.l.f. Beauty and Microsoft.
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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