Canadian team captain Sylvain Bruneau, who leads a strong team made up of several star players, will have very high expectations this week at the Billie Jean King Cup.
“Anything is possible,” he said Monday during a videoconference from Glasgow, Scotland.
The BJK Cup Finals will feature 12 teams, divided into four groups, at the Emirates Arena. In Group A, Canada will open the competition against Italy on Thursday, and face Switzerland on Friday.
Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu will likely be the singles players for Canada, which will also have doubles specialists Gabriela Dabrowski, Rebecca Marino and Carol Zhao.
“It’s a very talented and very experienced team,” noted Bruneau. They love to represent their country, each of them, which is very positive. They know how to behave. »
Each match in these finals is a best-of-three match, with a doubles match following two singles matches.
The winning teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals on Saturday before the final on Sunday.
Fernandez, of Laval, is currently the highest ranked singles player in the country by virtue of her 40th position. The 2021 U.S. Open runner-up says the hard surface that’s been installed at the Emirates Arena will favor the Maple Leaf representatives.
“We grew up playing hard indoors, so I think that will be a great advantage for us,” she said. We’re just trying to have fun. It’ll be fun. »
Fernandez advanced to the quarter-finals of the French Open this year but then missed two months of action after suffering a stress fracture in her foot on clay in Paris.
Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., won the U.S. Open in 2019 and climbed to No. 4 in the world that year. Since then, she has found herself in the 46th echelon.
“Last year, I was not myself, she explained. I found myself this season, and I accept defeats better, and even more victories. I’m obviously not happy with being 46th in the world, so I’m definitely going to break into the top-10 again within six months. »
Dabrowski of Ottawa is sixth in the world in doubles.
“We have, in my opinion, the best training since I became captain,” acknowledged Bruneau.
Bruneau has captained the Canadian squad several times in the past. He replaces Heidi el Tabakh this week, who is absent for personal reasons.
Bruneau must submit his final roster one hour before the start of the games.
“I think we will be very competitive,” he said. We firmly believe that we can do well. But the competition will be fierce. So it will be one duel at a time. »
Switzerland will be led by world number 13 Belinda Bencic – the 2020 Tokyo Olympics champion – and Jill Teichmann (no 35).
Italy will bet instead on the 27th player in the world Martina Trevisan, who will be accompanied by four other players from the top-70.
Canada has never reached the final of this tournament. He had reached the semi-finals in 1988, before losing to Czechoslovakia.
