Canada’s generational shift at the Billie Jean King Cup remains on full display in 2025. Heading into the play-offs in Monterrey, Mexico, Team Canada is once again boasting a young lineup full of players mostly, if not entirely, new to the competition.
But don’t let their experience or age fool you. This is a strong Canadian squad led by one of the biggest rising stars in the game. And if you are worried about how new this team is, you can rest easy knowing the Canuck’s veteran leader is back after missing April’s qualifying ties.
Let’s meet the women who will be representing Team Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs.
Victoria Mboko
- Rank: 18
- Billie Jean King Cup Appearance: 2nd
- Billie Jean King Cup Record: 2-0
- 2025 Record: 60-14 (WTA and ITF)
Mboko was already on the rise when she made her Billie Jean King Cup debut back in April, but even just seven months later, the 19-year-old is on a whole new level.
At the time of the qualifying round, where she won both her matches, Mboko was just outside the Top 150 in the rankings and had only appeared in two WTA Tour main draws in her career. Fast forward to November and she has two WTA titles to her name, including a 1000-level win on home soil at the National Bank Open, and is the Canadian No. 1, ranked inside the Top 20.
While Mboko struggled a little after her dramatic victory in Montreal, she is arriving in Monterrey in good form after a quarter-final in Tokyo and her second title of the year in Hong Kong. These ties will be her first appearance at the Billie Jean King Cup in the role of Canada’s No. 1 singles player.
Gabriela Dabrowski
- Rank: 10 (doubles)
- Billie Jean King Cup Appearance: 22nd
- Billie Jean King Cup Record: 15-12
- 2025 Record: 28-15
The first half of 2025 was tricky for Dabrowski, with just a single WTA 500 title salvaging a tough first seven months. But in the summer, the 33-year-old found another gear. She won back-to-back big titles in the United States, claiming the WTA 1000 crown in Cincinnati followed by her second Grand Slam women’s doubles trophy at the US Open.
In an odd twist, this will be Dabrowski’s first time playing for Canada in the Billie Jean King Cup since the 2023 semifinals, two full years ago. As Canada clinched the title 2-0 that year and then lost their quarter-final 2-0 the following year in Team Canada’s first and only tie of the year, the doubles was not played in either tie. The Ottawan was then not available this April for the qualifiers.
However, the last time she represented Canada at an event where players wore their country’s colours, Dabrowski scored a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024.
Marina Stakusic
- Rank: 131
- Billie Jean King Cup Appearance: 4th
- Billie Jean King Cup Record: 3-1
- 2025 Record: 29-21 (WTA and ITF)
Stakusic will arrive in Monterrey playing some of her best tennis of the year. The breakout star from the 2023 championship team just secured her first title of the year at the beginning of November at the ITF W100 event in Irapuato, Mexico. The win in Irapuato was the culmination of a strong fall that included another W100 final in Edmond, Oklahoma, a WTA 125 final in Austin, Texas, and her best result at a WTA Tour event in 2025 in Guadalajara, where she reached the quarter-finals.
A title in Irapuato and a quarter-final at a WTA 500 in Guadalajara, as well as a WTA 125 title last year in Tampico; clearly Stakusic likes playing in Mexico. That bodes very well for some Billie Jean King Cup ties played in Monterrey.
Stakusic had to wait a while after her dramatic Billie Jean King Cup debut in November 2023 to suit up again for Canada. Her next time playing a match for her country in the competition after the 2023 final was this year’s qualifying round, where she split her two singles matches as the Canadian’s No. 1 singles player that round. Assuming Mboko plays both ties, the pressure will be off Stakusic as she will be back in the No. 2 role this time around, the same position she excelled in in 2023.
Carson Branstine
- Rank: 183
- Billie Jean King Cup Appearance: Debut
- 2025 Record: 33-22 (WTA and ITF)
2025 was Branstine’s first full year on the pro circuits, having gone the NCAA route and helping Texas A&M to a national title in 2024. The 25-year-old has put up some solid results this year, including an ITF W50 title in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and a runner-up finish at a WTA 125 event in Cancun, Mexico. The player she beat in the Santo Domingo final was Ana Sofia Sanchez, who is part of Team Mexico this week in Monterrey.
Branstine also made her presence known during the grass season, where she qualified for her first WTA Tour main draw at the Libema Open, upsetting top seed Liudmila Samsonova, then ranked 18th in the world, in the first round. She backed that up by qualifying for her first Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon, where she pushed world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka hard in their first-round clash.
These strong results allowed Branstine to enter the Top 200 of the WTA rankings for the first time.
Cadence Brace:
- Rank: 184
- Billie Jean King Cup Appearance: Debut
- 2025 Record: 41-21 (WTA and ITF)
Brace is another member of the Canadian team arriving in Monterrey fresh off some of her best results of the year. While she has yet to win a singles title this season, the 20-year-old has had plenty of deep runs on the ITF Tour and even some strong showings on the WTA 125 circuit.
Just last month, Brace reached the biggest final of her career to date in Tampico, Mexico, at the very same tournament Stakusic had won the previous year. That was her second final of the season to go along with five semifinals on the ITF Tour. In two of those semifinals, she was beaten by Mboko.
Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
Currently, Brace plays on tour when she is not too busy in the NCAA, where she is studying and playing for Louisiana State University (LSU). Heading into the 2025 American collegiate season, Brace is the highest-ranked Canadian, male or female, in both singles (No. 4) and doubles (No. 6 with fellow Canadian Kayla Cross) in Division I.
Captain: Marie-Ève Pelletier
Another new-ish face on Team Canada this time around will be Pelletier, who is captaining the team for the first time. Regular captain Heidi El-Tabakh is on maternity leave.
Pelletier is no stranger to the Billie Jean King Cup team, though. During her time as a player, she was one of the most prolific members of the Canadian squad ever. From 2002 to 2012, Pelletier participated in 30 Billie Jean King Cup (then Fed Cup) ties, posting a 25-16 record. She is second among Canadians in ties played, matches played, and doubles win. The Quebecer is third in total wins.
In a fun twist, she has one more doubles win in the competition than Dabrowski, meaning the Ottawan could tie then pass her captain on Canada’s doubles win list in Monterrey.
Feature Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
