Sunday in Malaga was one of those days where things just wouldn’t go in Canada’s favor at the Billie Jean King Cup.
The title defense came to an end against Great Britain in the quarter-finals following losses to Leylah Annie Fernandez and Rebecca Marino in the singles.
Both matches played out in much the same way. The Canadians had a disastrous first round, they recovered in the second, but were not able to complete their comeback, because the British, who also had the advantage in the number of fans in the stands (even if the Canadian fans cheered wildly from start to finish), which felt like a home game, were just too strong and made very few mistakes.
It may not have been written in the sky for the Canadians, as almost every ball that hit the top of the net went in favor of the British.
In short, it wasn’t Canada Day.
“I think they [les joueuses britanniques] did exactly what needed to be done, and, unfortunately, that was not the case for me. That’s how it happened,” Fernandez analyzed in his post-match conference.
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The Canadian number one lost to Katie Boulter, which gave the British victory and was Canada’s first defeat in two years at the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I always try to fight from the first to the last point,” Fernandez explained. I never try to give up. I managed to hang on to her at the start of the match, but, in a few important moments, Katie [Boulter] produced winning shots or caused errors in my game. It was a bit of the same thing at the start of the second set. Towards the end of the match I started to put more balls in play, but it was a little too late for us. »
Gabriela Dabrowski, who received the Billie Jean King Cup Commitment Award before the match, did not even have the opportunity to extend his winning streak to seven matches, because the doubles was canceled when the victory was acquired after the singles duels.
One of the main challenges for the Canadian women was under their feet. Indeed, Team Canada had not had the opportunity to train on this pitch before today, while Great Britain had already played a match on this surface and was more familiar with the conditions.
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Marino called getting to know the pitch a “challenge” and stressed that it “was undeniably different from training pitches”. She insisted, however, that this was not a factor in her result. Fernandez shared this view.
The fact that Canada did not practice on this field before Sunday was not an organizational error or poor planning, but rather the fault of Mother Nature.
The Canadians were scheduled to train there earlier in the week, but had to cancel due to heavy rain and flood warnings in Malaga. Bad weather also forced the postponement of some games, which limited the availability of the field for team practices later in the week.
In short, it’s just bad luck.
Despite the defeat, despite all the forces that worked against them this week, the Canadian team managed to find positive sides to their experience.
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“I’m proud of the match as a whole, because on paper I was underdog. I think I showed that I can improve, regardless of the score, and that I can turn the tide, commented Marino after his defeat. My game is there. I had a very good end to the season and I am convinced that I can do it. It’s just a matter of making everything fit together. »
“I am always proud of my daughters,” commented El Tabakh. I know they were there to win and I know they gave it their all. You can’t win everything, but I’m always proud of the girls and the effort they put in. I couldn’t ask for a better team. »
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Fans can follow the Canadian Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup teams for free on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app and the official CBC Sports YouTube channel. The matches will also be broadcast in French by TVA Sports and broadcast continuously by TVA Sports Direct, which will also present the semi-finals and finals.
