Canada, Italy advance to Billie Jean King Cup final

Field Level Media|published: Sat 11th November, 20:59 2023

Aug 29, 2023; Flushing, NY, USA; Leylah Fernandez of Canada serves against Ekaterina Alexandrova (not pictured) on day two of the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. credits: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Gabriela Dabrowski and Leylah Fernandez won the decisive doubles match that allowed Canada to punch its ticket to the Billie Jean King Cup final with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic on Saturday.

Dabrowski and Fernandez topped Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 7-6 (3) to oust the Czech Republic, the Group A champions.

Also advancing to the final is Italy, which blanked Slovenia 2-0 on Saturday.

Twelve teams were divided into four groups to begin the event with round-robin play. The winner of each group advanced to play in the semifinals on Saturday, and the final is scheduled for Sunday.

Each match consists of two singles matches followed by a doubles match.

Krejcikova tallied 30 winners against 22 unforced errors to give the Czechs an early advantage with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Marina Stakusic. But the Canadians stayed alive thanks to Fernandez, who downed Marketa Vondrousova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 while saving nine of 13 break points.

The Italians had a much easier time getting through the semifinals, with Martina Trevisan opening their match against Slovenia with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 triumph over Kaja Juvan. Trevisan had 29 winners compared to just 11 for Juvan.

Jasmine Paolini then completed the sweep, holding off Tamara Zidansek for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win. Paolini faced a 2-0 deficit in the third and final set, but she won six of the next seven games to send her country to the final.

—Field Level Media