Tennis Canada Unveils Fed Cup Team

Written by: Staff on 30th March 2011

Tennis Canada Unveils Fed Cup Team |

Tennis Canada has announced the names of the players slated to compete in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II playoff tie to be held in Koper, Slovenia from April 16 -17, 2011.

Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC), Stéphanie Dubois (Laval, QC), Sharon Fichman (Toronto, ON) and Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC), have been chosen to represent the nation by team captain Sylvain Bruneau.

“The team that will defend Canada’s colours is a mix of new blood and players with Fed Cup experience,” said Bruneau. “The girls have a difficult challenge ahead of them, but I am confident in my team. Our goal is still to earn a spot in the World Group, but we will have to overcome each step, one at a time, to get there.”

For Bouchard, 17 years of age, this is her first nomination to the Miele Canadian Fed Cup squad. On Monday, she achieved a career-best ranking ITF world junior ranking of no. 6 after capturing the singles title at Copa Gerdau, a prestigious Grade A ITF junior event, the biggest win of her young career. At the beginning of the season Bouchard enjoyed a great deal of success Down Under in Australia. She reached the semifinals of the Junior Australian Open and won her first professional tournament at a $25,000 Challenger. She is currently ranked no. 374 on the WTA rankings.

Dubois, 24 years old, is the most experienced Fed Cup player of the group. She has represented Canada since 2004, collecting 21 wins compared to only nine losses. She is currently ranked no. 148 in the world and has won seven ITF Circuit singles titles in her career and achieved a career-high ranking of no. 95 in 2008.

Despite being just 20 years of age, Fichman already has a lot of Fed Cup experience under her belt, making her Canadian team debut in 2005. The Toronto native holds an impressive 14-2 record. With a world no. 94 doubles ranking, Fichman is Canada’s top-ranked doubles player in addition to being comfortable playing on clay. In fact, it is the surface on which she has enjoyed the most success, reaching her first WTA singles quarter-final in 2010 at Acapulco and she also won Challenger title on clay earlier this year.

Marino, Canada’s top-ranked player at no. 58, will be making her second Fed Cup appearance in Slovenia. The Vancouver native made her debut at Canada’s last tie in February against Serbia where she split her two singles matches. The 20-year-old has been on a roll since last fall, winning three consecutive Challenger events. Marino reached the second round of the U.S. Open last year where she lost a tough battle to Venus Williams and reached the second round of the Australian Open in January before falling 9-7 in the third set to Francesca Schiavone. In February, Marino advanced to her WTA final in Memphis.

In February, Canada lost their World Group II first round tie 3-2 to Serbia. The outcome of the tie was decided in the fifth and final rubber, the doubles match.

Polona Hercog, Katarina Srebotnik and Masa Zec-Peskiric are the likely candidates to represent Slovenia for this tie.