Dubois, Fichman, Tétreault and Wozniak to represent Canada in the Americas Zone Group 1 matches at Uniprix Stadium

Tennis Canada announced Wednesday the names of the players slated to compete in the Americas Zone Group I matches of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas held at Uniprix Stadium from February 4-7, 2009.

Stéphanie Dubois (Laval, Québec), Sharon Fichman (Toronto), Valérie Tétreault (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec) and Aleksandra Wozniak (Blainville, Québec) were chosen to represent the nation by team captain Rene Collins.

“The Canadian team that we have assembled is a nice mix of youth and experience,” commented Collins, a star Canadian Fed Cup player from 1988 to 1998. “Led by Aleksandra and Stéphanie, we are poised to take one more step towards World Group II.”

A member of the Miele Canadian Fed Cup team since 2004, Dubois has racked up fourteen wins and six losses. Her greatest triumph came in July 2006 when she ousted Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina (6-2, 6-4) in a fourth match that sent Canada to World Group II for the very first time since 1996. Currently ranked No. 128 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Dubois earned her best results of 2008 on the International Tennis Federation’s Challenger Circuit, reaching two semis (Redding and Boston) and the final of the Tevlin Challenger in Toronto. But the 22-year-old player gave her best performance in front of her hometown fans at the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank when she defeated Maria Kirilenko of Russia (20^th) to reach the third round of the tournament.

Fichman, 18 years old, has earned five victories and one loss since she began representing Canada in Fed Cup play in 2005. She is ranked No. 314 in the world and had great runs at the Challengers in Redding (USA) and Waterloo, Ontario reaching the quarters and final respectively.

After taking a few months away from the courts in 2008, Valérie Tétreault made a solid return to the game in the fall with two wins against Top 100 players. She defeated Edina Gallovits of Romania (94^th) at the National Bank Challenger in Saguenay and Mathilde Johansson of France (84^th) at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City.

Wozniak has an impressive record of 23 Fed Cup wins and 4 losses. Her 19 singles victories constitute the best record in Canadian history (tied with Jana Nejedly) and her 23 total wins rank her fourth among Canadian women. In 2008, Wozniak, currently ranked No. 33 in the world, had her best season on the pro tour, jumping from 136^th to 34^th on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings. She won her first WTA title in Stanford (Tier II), taking down none other than Serena Williams (5^th) and Marion Bartoli (15^th). In addition to her win in California, Wozniak also reached the third round at the French Open, the quarters in Cincinnati (Tier III), and the semis in Tokyo (Tier I) and Quebec City (Tier III).  

Canada’s Fed Cup run began in January 2008, when the team played its last zone-level matches in Medellin, Colombia, losing the Americas Zone Group I title (2-1) to the host nation. Canada did, however, finish third in the event, which included Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. This third-place finish allowed the l team to remain in Group I of the Americas Zone for 2009.  

Canada will join the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, and Puerto Rico on the indoor courts of Uniprix Stadium in the upcoming Americas Zone Group I tie. The participating nations will be divided into two groups (three nations in Group A, four nations in Group B). The winners of each group will then face off for the chance to take part in the World Group II qualifying round in April 2009. The two lowest ranking teams will be sent to Group II of the Americas Zone in 2010.

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