VANCOUVER — On paper, Canada is by far the favourite heading into a Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Vancouver on Friday.
The ninth-ranked Canadian squad features U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, veteran Rebecca Marino and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski, while No. 14 Latvia is without two shining stars and will instead field a team stacked with emerging talents.
Canada isn't taking anything for granted, though.
"I don’t think being an underdog or a front-runner matters so much as how we’ve prepared, how we play as a team, our spirit on the court and our energy together," Dabrowski said. "I think all those things together matter more than the position we’re in before the matches start."
Fernandez, ranked 21st in the world, comes into the qualifier as Canada's top seed and will face Latvia's second seed Darja Semenistaja when the series kicks off on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Laval, Que., has been hit-and-miss in 2022, winning the Monterey Open in March before being eliminated early in Miami and Charleston.
While Semenistaja sits at No. 389 in the WTA rankings, Fernandez knows the 19-year-old Latvian is on the rise.
“I know that she’s had some good results in the past and that she’s coming up in the ranks,” Fernandez said. "It's not going to be an easy match so I'm just going to prepare myself the best way I can and just find solutions on every point."
Later on Friday, Marino will take on Latvia's top seed Daniela Vismane, ranked 230 in the world.
The match will likely feature a boisterous crowd cheering for Marino, who hails from Vancouver.
The world No. 111 said she got about 50 tickets for friends and family, and knew many other loved ones were planning to find their own.
"It’s honestly just incredible to be playing here, to be home, especially after everything that’s happened through the pandemic," she said. "This is like the restart of tennis locally and to bring our community together for something really exciting is fantastic.”
The qualifier will continue Saturday with Fernandez playing Vismane, and Marino facing Semenistaja before Canada's Dabrowski and Carol Zhao take on Liga Dekmeijere and Diana Marcinkevica in doubles action.
The winner of the series will advance to the 2022 finals in November.
Latvia is playing the qualifier without two of its top players, including world No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko, who suffered a wrist injury at the Miami Open.
Captain Adrians Zguns said he talked to Ostapenko shortly after the tournament about whether she'd be ready for this weekend's qualifier.
“It was always a kind of question mark," he said. "She said she was going to try it but unfortunately it was smarter to take some rest now and not play for her.”
Anastasija Sevastova is also out after announcing in January that she was taking a break from tennis to deal with an undisclosed ailment.
The Latvian squad may be young, but Zguns said he believes in his players.
“I think our strength is that the girls are hungry, hungry to be on the court and play and have the opportunity to play against high-level competition," he said.
Latvia's rejigged lineup hasn't changed how Canada will prepare for the series, said Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh.
"I think they have a lot of good depth in their players and a lot of upcoming young juniors. It’s going to be a battle no matter what and we’re up for a tough competition, so we’ll be ready," she said.
“When you’re young, you’re fearless and you’ve got nothing to lose. We’re definitely not taking this lightly.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
