Canada advanced to the Billie Jean King Cup finals when Leylah Fernandez defeated Latvian Daniela Vismane in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday in Vancouver.
The result gave Canada a 3-0 win over Latvia. Fernandez defeated Darja Semenistaja and Rebecca Marion got the better of Vismane on Friday.
Fernandez, ranked 21st in the world, made five of her eight break points and won 76 percent of her first-serve points.
Vismane, 230th in the world, practiced an athletic style by sprinting all over the field and varying the placement of her shots, but the 19-year-old Quebecer held on and allowed no breakage during this duel of one o’clock.
Canada entered qualifying ranked ninth in the Billie Jean King Cup standings. Latvia was in 14th place. This cup is the most important tennis tournament between women’s national teams and will end in November.
Last year, Canada upset France in the round robin portion before losing to Russia.
Latvia took part in these qualifications without two of their best players, including Jelena Ostapenko, the 11th racket in the world. Ostapenko injured her wrist at the Miami Open.
Anastasija Sevastova is also sidelined after announcing in January that she was taking a break from tennis to deal with an undisclosed illness.
Latvia lost to USA in qualifying last year.
Fernandez was focused and patient against No. 1 seed Latvia on Saturday.
His determination paid off early in the game and midway through the first set. Fernandez moved ahead 5-1, but the Latvian closed the gap to 5-2 with her speed to extend the rally.
In the second set, Fernandez rocketed to a 4-1 lead. The finalist at the last U.S. Open tennis tournament easily closed the books before celebrating with Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh.