In November 2022, Canada lifted the Davis Cup for the first time in its history, largely thanks to Félix Auger-Aliassime. A year later, one of her compatriots imitated her and propelled the country to the top of the world women’s tennis pyramid, providing a salutary balm to a season strewn with pitfalls for Canadian players in 2023.
This compatriot is Laval resident Leylah Fernandez. The balm is Canada’s triumph in the Billie-Jean-King Cup Finals – the first in its history – against Italy on November 12 in Spain.
Undeniably, it was the highlight of the tennis year in Canada, and the 21-year-old Quebecer played the main role.
During the four matches in which she participated in singles in Seville, Fernandez conceded only one set, against the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, then seventh in the world, in the semi-final, on Saturday November 11.
Less than an hour after her victory against Vondrousova, Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski led Canada to the grand final with a straight-set victory over the formidable tandem of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, winners of seven Grand Tour titles. Slam, together, doubles.
To all honor, it was Fernandez who was given the mandate to achieve the ultimate victory, the next day against Italy, in the grand final. She accomplished this task with panache by dominating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3.
This victory for Fernandez, his 16th in 19 career matches at the Billie-Jean-King Cup, capped an unforgettable week for Canada. A week to which Montrealer Eugenie Bouchard, winner of two doubles matches with Dabrowski during the group phase, had notably contributed.
Also, there was Marina Stakusic, an unknown then aged 18 and ranked 258th, who won three out of four singles matches, all against top-70 rivals.
“It’s been a truly extraordinary week. I think the girls were very motivated and wanted to do like the boys (in 2022). They knew it was possible,” analyzed Guillaume Marx, head of performance at Tennis Canada, in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“Afterwards,” he continued, “we need an alignment of the stars, and the stars aligned with Leylah who played top-10 that week; with an excellent doubles player (Dabrowski) who had just won a Grand Slam and who was therefore confident; with the fact that we released a Marina Stakusic who did, I think, one of the most incredible feats I have ever seen. »
Suddenly, in a scenario no one would have dared to imagine just five years ago, Canada was the defending champion of tennis’ two most prestigious team tournaments.
About two weeks later, the Canadians had the opportunity to maintain this double supremacy during the Davis Cup finals in Spain.
However, in the absence of Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, both injured, the Canadian delegation fell to Finland in the quarter-finals, despite a great singles victory for veteran Milos Raonic, who was returned to the courts in 2023 after a two-year absence.
In fact, Canada’s participation in this final phase of the Davis Cup seemed out of reach.
About two months earlier, in Bologna, Canadian captain Frank Dancevic had also had to do without Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov during the group stage.
However, youngsters Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau as well as veteran Vasek Pospisil took over by winning eight out of nine matches against Italy, Sweden and Chile, and assured Canada a place in the final tournament.
Obstacles
Canada has made other good moves on the tennis scene in 2023, but they have been few and, generally, late.
In October, Auger-Aliassime successfully defended his title at the Basel tournament, and Fernandez won a third career singles tournament, in Hong Kong.
Fernandez also took part in two doubles finals with American Taylor Townsend, including the French Open.
And in September, Dabrowski became the first Canadian to win a women’s doubles title at a Grand Slam tournament, at the U.S. Open.
For the rest, we were treated to slips in the rankings which did not spare the most prominent athletes in Canadian tennis.
After a promising end to 2022 which allowed him to rise to sixth place in the men’s tennis hierarchy, Auger-Aliassime finds himself 29th in the world rankings.
In Grand Slam tournaments in 2023, he has won only three matches out of seven, all in Australia, in January. At Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, he was eliminated in the first round each time.
At the National Bank Open in Toronto in August, Auger-Aliassime also lost in his first match.
“I think he was very bothered by (his injury to) his knee. He dragged that on all season,” Marx underlined about the Montrealer.
“Today, what you have to understand,” he added, “is that the margins are so small on the circuit that if you are not at 100%, you cannot maintain yourself at the most high level. It’s that simple. I don’t judge what happened. I think he was really penalized. »
Injuries also cut short the seasons of Denis Shapovalov (knee) and Bianca Andreescu (back).
From 18th in the rankings at the start of the year, Shapovalov, inactive since Wimbledon, fell to 109th, pushing him out of the top-100 for the first time since August 2017.
Andreescu, whose last match in 2023 took place in the first round at the National Bank Open in Montreal, rose to 27th place in April before reaching 95th two weeks before the new year.
It was also complicated for Fernandez who found herself ranked 96th in singles at the end of June, after starting the year in 40th place.
“On an individual level, in the middle of the year, everyone took a step back a little bit. It was difficult,” admitted Marx, when asked to paint a portrait of the year that is ending.
“In the end, there were good things. Dabrowski who won in doubles at the United States Open, Leylah who gradually recovered from the summer and who finished 35th. We had an incredible end to the season with the Billie-Jean-King Cup and Félix winning in Basel. The players recovered well at the end of the season. I now hope that everyone will be healthy to tackle a full year 2024. »
Djokovic untouchable?
At the international level, Serbian Novak Djokovic and Polish Iga Swiatek will start the new year ranked first in the ATP and WTA, respectively.
Among the women, there are many candidates with, among others, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and the Americans Coco Gauff, champion of the United States Open, and Jessica Pegula, winner in Montreal in 2023.
For his part, Djokovic seems well in the saddle, to the point where the calendar Grand Slam is within his reach.
“It’s still there, it’s going to be there for a long time,” Marx believes.
“He’s been preparing his body for 20 years to be here as long as possible and he’s reaping the rewards today. He plays at an absolutely incredible level. We have the impression that he is still progressing. I don’t see how it will disappear in the next three years,” he continued.
The other question in 2024 will be what Rafael Nadal’s return will look like. The first tournaments in Australia will perhaps give us a clue.