Billie Jean King Cup | Fernandez and Marino secure Canada lead

The Canadians wanted to put on a show for fans gathered at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver on Friday night. As part of the first day of the qualifying phase of the Billie Jean King Cup, Canada faced Latvia. Leylah Annie Fernandez and Rebecca Marino were sent into the fray for the first two singles matches and they did not disappoint.

In the first clash of the day, the task seemed relatively simple for Leylah Annie Fernandez. The Quebecer, ranked 21^and rank in the world rankings, faced Darja Semenistaja, who is 389^and world rank.

At first glance, the two players had a similar profile. They are 19 years old and both are left-handed. In addition to the fact that the context of this type of international meeting is conducive to surprises. It is not uncommon to witness unforeseen results in such team competitions, where the crowd and the team sitting on the bench can influence the course of a match.

The advantage for the Canadians is that they have the privilege of playing in front of their fans.

The match had started well for the finalist of the most recent United States Open. Fernandez earned his first point on serve by shutout and subsequently broke his opponent in the second game.

From the start of the match, a gap was created between the two adversaries. On the one hand, the Quebecer was much more powerful, stable and in control, while the Latvian offered less variety of shots in addition to having a very weak second serve.

However, Semenistaja woke up in the third game breaking Fernandez, conceding no points to her.

From then on, the crowd got louder and gave the Canadian the necessary energy to win the next four games and save herself with the set by the score of 6 to 1.

“Hearing your applause helped me a lot to play well and have fun on the court,” said Fernandez after the game.

The second set was flooded with breakage. The Quebecer broke her opponent four times. On the other hand, the only two games won by the Latvian were acquired thanks to breaks in the second and sixth games of the set.

Although she won the final set 6-2 and the game only lasted 53 minutes, Fernandez did not play a perfect game, or at least what she is capable of. Several unforced errors and questionable decisions could have cost her more points against a higher ranked player.

Never mind, in this kind of format, the way does not matter, unlike the final result.

“I want to hear you, I want to hear you! Fernandez asked the fans gathered at the Pacific Coliseum after his victory.

She also asked them to be just as loud, if not louder, for the next game involving local favorite Rebecca Marino.

“I’m really happy to be here. To be able to play in front of our supporters is something really special for me. »

Fernandez shone at several points during the match, but she noted that everything happened so quickly that she was unable to explain what had just happened: “I don’t remember a lot things about the game, but I tried to follow my game plan. I tried to aim for the lines and I’m happy the balls stayed inside the pitch at the right times. »

Fernandez will be sent into the fray again on Sunday afternoon when she takes on Daniela Vismane.

Rebecca Marino, snatch

In the second match of the evening, Rebecca Marino was opposed to the young Daniela Vismane.

Two players with diametrically opposed sizes, to the advantage of the 31-year-old Canadian.

Marino is currently 111^and in the WTA rankings, while his 21-year-old opponent is 267^and.

The match started smoothly for Marino. Her game is largely dictated by her serve and she flinched from the first game of the match, when she was broken.

“I was pretty nervous playing at home, to be honest,” said the Vancouver-raised.

However, she recovered well from the next game by subjecting her opponent to the same medicine.

Marino quickly took advantage of his opponent’s weak second ball. Tough and grounded, the six-footer was consistent and left her opponent with little wiggle room. Not being the most powerful, Vismane had to compensate for this lack of precision. She was able to move Marino, who isn’t the fastest or the most agile, enough to stay in the game.

Marino got the only other break of the set at 5-3 and won the first set.

The second run was the tightest. Both protected their serves adequately and left very little space for their opponent. At 4-4, Marino let a break point go and Vismane was able to take the lead by one point.

The Canadian came back from behind, but her lethal weapon, her serve, let her down at the end of the set. The set went to a tiebreaker and after taking a 3-0 lead, Marino let six straight points slip away to ultimately lose the set 7-6.

As in the previous set, both players defended well in the third period, but it was Marino, supported by the crowd, who ended the 19-game unbroken streak.

The Vancouverite took a 4-2 lead and never looked back.

She finished the match with four brilliant serves and took the final set 6-3.

She will have made 17 aces during the match.

On the microphone after the game, she thanked the supporters who were “invaluable help” to her and she felt supported and encouraged from start to finish. Nearly 50 members of her family and her group of friends were present to see her perform.

“I can’t explain what it means to me. Thank you very much everyone! »

She also explained that the captain of the Canadian formation, Heidi El Tabakh, had enormously helped her to come back in the match after having dropped the second set.

With those two wins, Canada only needs one more win on Saturday to secure its place in the final rounds to be played in November.