BIEL, Switzerland — Leylah Annie Fernandez’s stunning two-set upset of world No. 5 Belinda Bencic was a highlight for Canada despite losing to Switzerland 3-1 on Saturday in the qualifying tie for the Fed Cup Finals.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., is ranked 185th on the WTA’s rankings, but earned a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over Bencic to cut into Switzerland’s 2-0 lead from Friday.
"It was tough because I know that Belinda is a fighter, she never gives up," said the 17-year-old Fernandez. "Even here at the Fed Cup you want to do the best for your country so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to break her serve again or in the tiebreak to finish it off but I was happy to get one more ball in and get my winners."
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski then fell to Switzerland’s Jil Teichman 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth rubber to seal Canada’s loss.
The Canadians now drop into a playoff tie in April against a Regional Group I nation for a chance to reach the 2021 qualifiers.
Dabrowski, a doubles specialist, filled in for Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., who sat out with a left wrist injury. Bouchard said she sustained a wrist injury during a practice session on Thursday.
"It wasn’t enough. I was disappointed in that," said Dabrowski, who is ranked seventh in doubles but 448th in singles. "I wish I had more singles matches under my belt in general. I wish I had more singles training. I wish we weren’t all sick and injured this week. I wish we had a fifth player.
"There are lots of things that I wish were different but I did the best that I could in that moment."
Reigning U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, the world No. 6 from Mississauga, Ont., was not selected for singles play due to a lingering knee injury. She hasn’t played a competitive match since suffering a left knee injury at the WTA Finals over three months ago.
Andreescu was still tabbed to play doubles with Dabrowski in the tie’s fifth rubber but with Canada behind 3-1 the match was not played.
The Swiss had a 2-0 lead after Teichmann opened the tie with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Fernandez on Friday, and Bencic followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dabrowski in the second rubber.
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