Tennis News: Canada will begin the opening day of the Fed Cup against Switzerland without its top tennis player and last season's US Open champion, Bianca Andreescu.
Canadian team captain Heidi El Tabakh hopes her team's top-ranked player, world number 6 Andreescu, will be fully recovered this weekend when he takes to the court at the Swiss Tennis Arena in Biel. But it appears Andreescu is running out of time to make a full recovery.
Andreescu did not train on Tuesday (04/02) or Wednesday (05/02) and had to watch from the sidelines as her teammates in action on the first day of the Fed Cup, including world number 185 Leylah Annie Fernandez and Eugenie. Bouchard who currently ranks in the 200.
Andreescu still has the opportunity to play after her name was called to play the doubles number with Gaby Dabrowski and if possible, she will play the singles number on the second day.
The first day will bring together two left-handed tennis players when Fernandez takes on host tennis player, Jil Teichmann and will be followed by Bouchard against world number 5, Belinda Bencic.
“We do our best every day and we are racing against time,” El Tabakh said when asked the reason for Andreescu's absence.
“We didn't want to take any chances on it and we always said that Bianca would only come out if she was 100 percent fit. He's close, but not there yet. We still have some time and he's nominated in doubles, not singles, so it won't be too physically demanding. We'll see how it develops. If he doesn't feel any pain, he will play on Saturday (08/02).
Fernandez, 17, is one of Canada's brightest young stars. He won the French Open title in the junior category last season and made his Fed Cup debut last April against the Czechs at the age of 16. She also started the 2020 season quite well after qualifying for the first Grand Slam of her career at the Australian Open last month despite losing immediately in the first round (to Lauren Davis).
“He is young and courageous. He is very focused and motivated. he's also very tough,” El Tabakh commented about Fernandez. “When he plays his best game, he's hard to beat and he doesn't feel overwhelmed.”
Article keywords: Tennis, Fed Cup, Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Annie Fernandez, eugénie bouchard
“Social media fanatic. Problem solver. Bacon ninja. Communicator. Alcohol evangelist.”
