Doubles star Gabriela Dabrowski made history on more than one occasion this season to cement her place in the Canadian tennis record books.
She teamed with Erin Routliffe to become the first Canadian duo to earn a Grand Slam women’s doubles title last summer at the U.S. Open.
Dabrowski capped her memorable campaign a couple months later by helping Canada collect the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time.
“It was so special, honestly,” Dabrowski said. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Leylah Fernandez was a force for the Canadian side at the women’s team tennis event in Spain. Canada swept its way to the weekend playoffs before beating Italy 2-0 in the final.
Fernandez, a Montreal native, won all five of her matches while relative unknown Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., delivered three upset victories. Dabrowski teamed with Fernandez in the deciding semifinal match to push Canada past Czechia.
Heidi el Tabakh captained a roster that also included Montreal native Eugenie Bouchard and Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, was ready if the best-of-three final went the distance, but the doubles match wasn’t required after Stakusic and Fernandez won their singles matches in consecutive sets.
“I just feel like we’re pretty good front-runners and we’re pretty good with carrying momentum very quickly,” Dabrowski said.
Canada made its debut at the annual tournament — previously known as the Federation Cup — in 1963.
The country’s best previous result was a semifinal appearance in 1988.
The Canadian men, meanwhile, were unable to duplicate their run to the Davis Cup title in 2022. Canada earned an automatic berth in this year’s Final 8 as defending champion but crashed out in the first round to Finland.
It was a so-so year on the singles front for Canadian players on tour.
Fernandez and Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime each won titles late in the season after enduring uneven results earlier in the year. Injuries, meanwhile, plagued the campaigns of Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont.
Shapovalov (knee) is on the entry list for next month’s Australian Open but Andreescu will skip the first major of the season due to a lingering back issue.
“I’m doing everything I can to get [healthy] as fast as possible but sadly these things take some time,” she said. “But I’m feeling very confident for 2024.”
Auger-Aliassime is the highest-ranked Canadian in singles at No. 29 on the ATP Tour. Shapovalov has tumbled to No. 109, some 30 positions ahead of Gabriel Diallo, a six-foot-eight youngster who appears primed to break out next season.
Fernandez is currently No. 35 on the WTA Tour list while Andreescu has slid to No. 95.
