Ottawa’s doubles standout Gabriela Dabrowski and Toronto’s Victoria Mboko joined forces to guide Canada to a victory against Denmark in the Group A playoffs of the Billie Jean King Cup held in Monterrey, Mexico on Saturday.
Playing their second match of the day, Dabrowski and Mboko triumphed over Denmark’s Emma Kamper and Johanne Christine Svendsen with a scoreline of 6-2, 6-4 in 59 minutes, securing a 2-1 win in the best-of-three contest.
In an impressive display, the Canadian duo delivered four aces and just one double fault, clinching 62 out of the available 100 points. They capitalized on three break point opportunities during the match.
Next up for Dabrowski and Mboko is a crucial face-off against Mexico on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, where the victor will advance to the 2026 qualifiers. Mexico previously overcame Denmark 2-1 in their Group A playoff clash on Friday.
The Canada-Mexico showdown will be broadcast live on CBC Sports and CBC Gem. Mboko managed to outplay Christine Svendsen with a score of 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 24 minutes, leveling the Group A playoff match at 1-1.
Reflecting on her performance, Mboko shared, “I just wanted to play it point by point and not rush myself, and just believe in myself,” during an on-court interview as Canada aimed to recover from a 1-0 deficit.
With 11 aces and an 86% first serve points won rate, Mboko dominated her opponent who failed to secure any aces, made four double faults, and only converted 63% of her first serves into points.
The Canadian team secured five out of 12 break points, while Christine Svendsen managed to convert two out of five break points and saved seven out of 12.
In the opening match, Toronto’s Cadence Brace encountered a tough three-set battle against Rebecca Munk Mortensen. Brace, aged 20, took the first set 6-3 but eventually succumbed in the next two sets, each ending 7-6 (4), after a marathon match lasting three hours and 41 minutes.
During the match, Brace registered two aces and six double faults, while Munk Mortensen tallied four aces and eight double faults. Both players displayed parity across all statistical categories, with the Danish player holding a slight advantage in break points won (7-of-14), break points saved (15-of-23), and match points saved (9-2).