The Spanish team got off to a bad start in the round robin of the final of the Billie Jean King Cupwhich are played at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville, with the defeats this Wednesday Rebeka Masarova and Sara Sorribesalso in doubles pairs, in a devastating 3-0 in the draw against Canada.

Spain has gradually jeopardized its chances of reaching the semi-finals of a tournament which won for the fifth and final time in 1998. Anabel Medina’s team, which did not include Paula Badosa, who just entered preparation after a long injury, will have to hope that Canada does not beat Poland this Thursday and then calculate its options against the Poles on Friday.

Masarova, a debutant despite having already played two doubles matches, suffered from debut nerves and found herself outclassed by a young Marina Stakušić, 18 years old and world number 258, 6-3, 6-1. The importance of the premiere and the status of hostess, as well as favorite theorist, turned against Masarova.

This year’s finalist in Auckland was surprised by Stakusic who did not concede any break option to her rival in the first set, and scored the advantage after breaking the Spaniard in the fourth game. Masarova, who took the place indicated by Paula Badosa without filming, continued to fall in the second set.

The American tennis player went 4-0, at which point the local player tried to make up for the boost from The Chartreuse. The Anabel Medina student had the opportunity to break her rival’s serve in the next two rounds, but Stakusic held on with surprising solidity, in what was also her Tennis World Cup debut.

Against the ropes, Sorribes then jumps against a Leylah Fernández unbeatable in this tournament. The Canadian won (7-6(8), 7-6(7)) to add 12 victories out of 13 duels in the former called Federation Cup. Sorribes had victory in hand, or at least he had three and two balls to score the first set and then the second, but Fernández won both tie-breaks.

The Castellón native knew the importance of her point and her number one status, but the recent Hong Kong champion had an answer for everything, including Sorribes’ two breaks in the first set. In the tiebreaker, the Canadian managed to recover these three decisive balls and the young American was also reborn in the second set, trailing 3-5 and another “tiebreaker” hectic.

Despite the overall defeat in the draw, the doubles point could be vital, and Anabel Medina He trusted his two best players. The captain changed the plan and sent Sorribes back onto the field, just half an hour after her individual defeat, and Masarova, both with the challenge of starting from scratch, against Eugénie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski.

The North Americans won (6-3, 7-5) to certify a 3-0 against a Spain without points or sets, forced to wait for a miracle so as not to fall back into the group stage of the Billie Jean King Cup final as happened in 2021 and 2022.

In the other match played this Wednesday in La Cartuja, within group D, Italy beat (2-1) France, thanks to the victories of Martina Trevisan and Jasmine Paolini against Alizé Cornet (2-6, 6-2, 6-2) and Caroline Garcia (7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4). In doubles, France added a point that could be important in the event of a tie, thanks to Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, winners of Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Trevisan by 5-7, 6-2, 10-6.