Belarusian women’s national tennis team — without Victoria Azarenka — defeated Canada in the first round of the 2016 Fed Cup World Group II

On the first day of the Quebec competition, Belarus’ world number 99 — Alexandra Sasnovich — saw off Canada’s Francoise Abanda (343) — 6:4, 2:6, 6:3. The good start was not to be maintained however, as Olga Govorstova (74) lost to Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak (803) — 2:6, 2:6.

The second day started with another defeat for Olga Govortsova to Francoise Abanda. The Belarusian led the match from the start but was eventually beaten — 4:6, 4:6. The Canadians needed a single win to gain overall victory but our girls did not make it easy for them. In the final singles match, Alexandra Sasnovich  defeated Aleksandra Wozniak 6:4, 6:4 — equalising the Belarus-Canada score (2:2). The decisive point was in the doubles match: Olga Govortsova and Alexandra Sasnovich defeated Canada’s Carol Zhao and Gabriela Dabrowski — 6:2, 6:4.

World number 14 Victoria Azarenka was unable to join the team in Quebec. Substitute Nika Shitkovkaya was included instead. However, neither Nika Shitkovkaya nor Vera Lapko played against Canadians as the captain, Eduard Dubrov, decided to use more experienced players. The Belarusian team will compete in the World Group playoffs with one of the first round losers in April 2016. Belarus’ rivals could be Romania (who lost to the Czech Republic 2:3), Germany (defeated by Switzerland 2:3), Italy (lost to France 1:4), or Russia (beaten by the Netherlands 1:3). Competing in the playoffs, apart from Belarus, will be Australia, the United States and Spain.