Canada will need some of Leylah Annie Fernandez’s classic Billie Jean King Cup heroics after Rebecca Marino was beaten in the opening match of Canada’s quarter-final tie with Great Britain by Emma Raducanu in straight sets.
Marino got off to a nightmare start in her first Billie Jean King Cup match in over a year and a half and while she picked up her level as the match went along, she was never able to break down the former US Open champion in a 6-0, 7-5 defeat.
Canada needs to win both remaining matches in the tie to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Leylah Annie Fernandez is up next is the second singles match against world No. 24 Katie Boulter and is expected to play doubles alongside Gabriela Dabrowski if the extends the tie with a singles win.
Consistency was a problem for Marino, who committed 38 unforced errors to just 11 winners. The big-serving Canadian only put 60 per cent of her first serve in, winning just 59 per cent of those points and 52 per cent of her second. She also failed to convert any of her seven break points, while being broken four times.
Raducanu settled into her game quickly, applying pressure in the Canadian’s opening service game. Marino was not firing on all cylinders yet and that Brit took advantage of her opponent’s tentative play to create a few break points. The veteran blasted her way out of the first two but sliced the ball into the net on the third to fall behind an immediate break.
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Even as Marino started to up the intensity, Raducanu seemed to have a good read on the Canadian’s mighty serve, constantly driving deep returns into Marino’s feet. Such a return gave her a double break look in the veteran’s next serve game and while Marino saved both with big serves and another with a forehand winner, back-to-back errors surrendered another break.
Everything was going Raducanu’s way in the opening set and she used form aggressive hitting to break for a third time as she opened the tie with a bagel.
A different Marino came out to start the second set. She found her range on the serve, winning the first eight points on her own delivery in a row. The Canadian also was not showing any interest in long rallies, blasting every ball in sight and, unlike the first set, many of her shots were finding their mark.
As a result, she was able to start breaking Raducanu’s rhythm and the Brit started to make mistakes. However, all of the big points were still going Raducanu’s way. Marino had three break points at 2-2 and four at 4-4 but could not convert any of them, usually committing an error herself or Raducanu found a big serve.
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When the Brit had a chance to break, she took advantage. At 5-5, a Marino forehand long gave Raducanu her first break point of the set and, just like she did frequently in the first set, the former US Open champion teed off on a return, breaking for a 6-5 lead where she served out the match.
During the 2023 Finals in Seville, Canada only dropped the opening singles match once. That was in the semifinals when Fernandez was able to win her singles match and then close out the tie in the doubles with Dabrowski.
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Viewers can watch Team Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals and Davis Cup Final 8 ties for free on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Sports’ official YouTube channel. The ties will also be available in French, as TVA Sports and TVA Sports Direct will be showing Canada’s matchups, as well as all semifinals and finals.