For the first time at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Team Canada presented by Sobeys is going to need a comeback to emerge victorious after Marina Stakusic was defeated by Czechia’s Barbora Krejcikova in the opening match of Saturday’s semifinal.
Stakusic fought hard in her first match against a Top 10 opponent, but could not find a way past the Czech star, losing her first match at the competition 6-2, 6-1.
Canada now needs to win both remaining matches in the tie in order to reach their first-ever Billie Jean King Cup final.
Krejcikova kept Stakusic under constant pressure throughout the match, creating 11 break point opportunities and converting five, while only facing a pair of break points on her own serve. The Czech also ripped 26 winners to the teen’s 11.
Playing a Grand Slam winner is a whole other game and was a new experience for Stakusic. It was clear right from the start that Krejcikova was going to be a much bigger challenge for the young Canadian as the Czech’s consistency and variety caused problems for the Stakusic, who was broken to start the match.
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Controlling the points and seemingly able to hit winners on command, Krejcikova nearly made it a quick double break but Stakusic was able to settle down and managed to save the break points in the third game to stay within reach.
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Despite looking more comfortable as the set went along, Stakusic was not able to find a way to break Krejcikova’s rhythm. The Czech broke again late as she took the opening set.
While the second set started the same way as the first, with a quick break for Krejcikova, Stakusic upped her resistance and was rewarded with her first break points of the match in the following game. The Czech finally blinked, missing a forehand to put the set back on serve.
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But rather than giving the Canadian momentum, the exchange of breaks sparked Krejcikova, who won 10 straight points after dropping her serve to reclaim the break and set herself up to make it a double-break lead. The Czech won the last five games after being broken to put her country in front.
Leylah Annie Fernandez will need to upset Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second singles match to keep Canada’s hopes alive.