Doubles player Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa teamed with Victoria Mboko of Toronto to lead Canada to a victory over Denmark on Saturday in the Group A play-offs of the Billie Jean Cup in Monterrey, Mexico.
Dabrowski and Mboko – who had played a singles match 20 minutes before the doubles showdown – defeated Danish duo Emma Kamper and Johanne Christine Svendsen 6-2, 6-4 in 59 minutes to win the best-of-three showdown 2-1.
The Canadians had four aces and only one double fault in the match, winning 62 of the 100 points up for grabs. The Canadians had three breakpoint conversions.
Mboko needed one hour and 24 minutes to beat Christine Svendsen 7-5, 6-3 and level the best-of-three, Group A playoff match at 1-1.
“I just wanted to play it point by point and not rush myself, and just believe in myself,” Mboko said during an on-court interview about how she handled the pressure of Canada trailing 1-0.
Mboko had 11 aces and won 86 percent of her points on the first serve. Her opponent had no aces, four double faults and converted only 63 percent of her first serves into points.
The Canadian won 5 of 12 break points, while Christine Svendsen won 2 of 5 break points and saved 7 of 12.
Toronto’s Cadence Brace lost a three-set heartbreaker to Rebecca Munk Mortensen in the opening match.
The 20-year-old Brace won the first set 6-3 and dropped the next two sets 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a match that lasted three hours and 41 minutes.
Brace had two aces and six double faults in the match, while Munk Mortensen had four aces and eight double faults.
Both players were fairly equal in all statistical departments. The player from Denmark had a slight lead in break points won (7 of 14), break points saved (15 of 23) and match points saved (9-2).
Canada plays Mexico on Sunday in a winner-take-all showdown, with the winner advancing to the 2026 qualifiers. Mexico defeated Denmark 2-1 in the Group A playoffs on Friday.
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