Canada's Leylah Fernandez returns to Belgium's Ysaline Bonaventure during a Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers singles match, in Vancouver, on Saturday, April 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – A doubles match will decide whether it’s Canada or Belgium that advances to the Billie Jean King Cup finals.
Belgium’s Greet Minnen downed Canadian Katherine Sebov 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a singles match Saturday night to level the best-of-five qualifier for the women’s World Cup of tennis competition at 2-2.
Toronto’s Sebov won 4-of-8 break points across the two-hour, 10-minute match, but also chalked up 59 unforced errors.
Earlier in the day, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., rallied for a gritty 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Ysaline Bonaventure.
Bonaventure, who was coming off a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino on Friday, dominated the two-hour, 26-minute match early before running into a series of unforced errors in the second and third sets.
Fernandez and Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski were scheduled to face Minnen and Kirsten Flipkens in the deciding doubles match later on Saturday.
Marino was initially set to battle Yanina Wickmayer in the second singles match of the day, but both players were swapped just before the match.
Both fought ailments on Friday, with Marino saying she was dealing with nausea while Wickmayer rolled her ankle and said the injury made serving painful.
Sebov was a late addition to Canada’s roster, replacing Canada’s top-ranked player Bianca Andreescu after she tore two tendons in her ankle at the Miami Open on March 27.
Andreescu, the world No. 27, sat courtside in Vancouver, cheering on her teammates.
The 24-year-old Sebov climbed to a career-high 136th spot in the rankings last week after a loss to Swiss powerhouse Belinda Bencic at the Charleston Open on April 5.
Minnen – ranked 171st in the world – took control of Saturday’s match early, going up 5-1 as her opponent struggled with consistency and fought to place her shots inside the baseline. The Canadian had 19 unforced errors across the first set.
Sebov left the court for an extended break between sets then jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the second. She broke Minnen to go up 4-2 and fired seven backhand winners to take the second.
The third saw Sebov take a 2-0 advantage before Minnen won four straight games. The Belgian sealed the win with a big forehand winner down the sideline.
After cruising to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Wickmayer on Friday, Fernandez – the current No. 50 in the WTA rankings – ran into trouble early Saturday.
The 86th-ranked Bonaventure took a 4-1 lead in the first set as Fernandez fought to find her serve, chalking up four double faults in the first five games.
As the match progressed, the young Canadian began mixing up her shots and luring her opponent to the net, forcing errors. Fernandez cut the deficit to 4-3 before Bonaventure took the set 6-4.
The players repeatedly traded points across a tightly contested second, with neither stealing the momentum.
Fernandez took a 6-5 lead thanks to a challenge that ruled Bonaventure’s shot just out of play. The Canadian crowd roared as she returned to the court from a changeover and Fernandez responded by breaking Bonaventure in the deciding game.
The former U.S. Open finalist continued to dominate in the third jumping out to a 3-0 cushion.
Bonaventure scored a break point late in the set to make it 5-2, but Fernandez responded with a break of her own to clinch the victory.
The Vancouver event is one of nine qualifiers taking place around the globe this week. Winners will advance to November’s finals.
Last year, Canada swept Latvia in a Vancouver qualifier and advanced to the finals in Glasgow, where they topped Italy before falling to Switzerland in group play. Switzerland went on to win the world title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2023.
