(Seville) Marina Stakusic continued to impress despite her young age in the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup on Thursday, as she defeated Magdalena Frech 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to take the lead 1 -0 for Canada in its duel against Poland.
Stakusic, 258e player in the world, recorded the biggest victory of her young professional career by defeating Frech, 63e. The day before, she had played the same move to the Spaniard Rebeka Masarova, 65e worldwide.
The 18-year-old Ontarian concluded the match presented on the cement of the Estadio la Cartuja in Seville in two hours and 49 minutes. So it wasn’t so simple this time for Stakusic.
She nevertheless showed a lot of poise and converted five of her 13 break points, compared to four in 10 opportunities for the Pole. Stakusic also dominated her rival 51-18 in winning shots.
The Mississauga native seemed nervous at the start of the match, and it showed in her play.
Stakusic faced a first test in the third game of the match, when she offered four break points to her opponent. Frech converted the last of them to build a 2-1 lead, before securing a second break in the fifth game to widen the gap to 4-1.
She tried to come back at the end of the set, after having recorded her first break of the match to narrow the gap to 5-3, but Frech, visibly more experienced than the representative of the maple leaf, did not flinch and sealed the outcome of the round two games later.
The second set was much closer, and Stakusic never gave up – even if she was the first to give up her serve in the fifth game to make it 3-2. The Ontarian leveled the score by breaking Frech to bring the score to 4-4, then she won the set by making her third break of the match against her, at 7-5.
Stakusic, buoyed by his momentum at the end of the second set, recorded another break in the second game of the final set to give himself a 2-0 advantage over his opponent. The Canadian, however, let three break points slip away at 4-1, once again reminding us of her lack of experience – and patience – against the world elite.
The two players exchanged a break each in the seventh and eighth games, which allowed Stakusic to serve for the match at 5-3. And she did not miss her chance from her first set point, sealing the outcome of the match with her 51e winning move.
PHOTO MANU FERNANDEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leylah Annie Fernandez
Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez will now have the mandate to ensure Canada’s qualification for the semi-finals of the competition.
Fernandez, the highest-ranked Canadian player in the world at 35e place, will face Magda Linette, 24e world racket, in the second singles match scheduled for Thursday.
In doubles, Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa will next face Weronika Falkowska and Katarzyna Kawa. The doubles teams could be subject to change, depending on the results obtained in the two singles matches.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is not part of the Polish team. Canada is without 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who remains hampered by a back injury.
Stakusic and Fernandez each won their singles duel the day before, while Canada swept host nation Spain 3-0 to move to the top of Group C after its first match of the preliminary phase.
Poland and Spain will face each other in the final match of Group C on Friday. The winning countries from each of the four groups will advance to the semi-finals. The final must then be presented on Sunday.
