Like the Canadians, Team Kazakhstan is without their biggest star at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers tie in Astana. However, on paper, the hosts are still the favourite with both the highest ranked singles and doubles player in their lineup.
And of course, they have home-court advantage, opting for red clay. The last time these two countries met in this competition, the home team, Canada on that occasion, came out victorious.
Let’s meet Canada’s opponents for this week’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers tie.
Yulia Putintseva
Not only is Putintseva the Kazakhstani No. 1 in this tie, she is the highest-ranked singles player on either team by a significant margin. The 31-year-old is the lone Top 100 singles player in Astana this week.
Putintseva is entering her 13th year as a member of Team Kazakhstan, having played every season since 2014. She has over 40 total matches under her belt in Billie Jean King Cup competition, boasting an impressive 22-12 singles record. Two of those matches were against Canada in 2017. She beat Bianca Andreescu, who she will most likely face again this week, in that World Group II tie but then lost to Francoise Abanda in her second match.
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A three-time WTA Tour titlist (two of them on clay) and three-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist (twice on clay at Roland-Garros), Putintseva will come home with some momentum after an impressive showing this week in Charleston, where she pushed top seed Jessica Pegula to the brink. She also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
Anna Danilina
With Gabriela Dabrowski absent, Kazakhstan also boasts the highest-ranked doubles player in the tie in Danilina. The world No. 7 has been on a tear in 2026, reaching the semifinals or better at her first six tournaments of the year. Her first-round loss in Miami was her first loss before the quarter-finals at any event since the US Open last September.
This impressive start to 2026 for Danilina included runner-up finishes at both the Australian Open and Indian Wells and a WTA 1000 title in Doha. She also reached the French Open final on clay last year.
If there is something for the Canadians to look to as a chink in the 30-year-old's armour, it’s that Danilina does not have a great record in Billie Jean King Cup play. The veteran is just 6-7 in doubles matches when representing her country in this competition.
Zhibek Kulambayeva
Kulambayeva is Kazakhstan's fourth-highest-ranked singles player and second-highest-ranked doubles player. The 26-year-old spends most of her time on the ITF Tour, popping up in the odd WTA 125 draw.
She only kicked off her season in late March but got started with a bang, winning both the singles and doubles titles, on clay, in her first tournament of the season at an ITF W15 event in Nagpur, India. Kulambayeva has won at least one singles title for four years in a row, with all eight of her ITF singles titles coming on clay.
Throughout her career, Kulambayeva has had even more success in doubles. While she has yet to win on the WTA Tour, she has lifted 37 trophies on the ITF circuit, claiming at least one per year since 2018. She won nine in 2021 and seven in both 2023 and 2024. Of those 37 titles, 29 came on clay.
Aruzhan Sagandykova
The 21-year-old Sagandykova will be hoping to get off the bench for the first time in her Billie Jean King Cup career. This tie marks her third nomination but she has yet to play a match for her country.
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Ranked outside the Top 600 in both singles and doubles, Sagandykova has five ITF titles to her name, two in singles and three in doubles. Both of her singles titles were on hard courts, while two of her three doubles titles were on clay. Her lone non-clay doubles title, at a W15 in Ahmedabad, came earlier this year on hard courts.
Doubles has generally been where she has seen more success. In terms of current form, Sagandykova has reached the semifinals or better at seven of her last eight ITF events.
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva
The youngest member of either team this week, Zhiyenbayeva was nominated to the Billie Jean King Cup Team for the first time. At 19 years old, she is currently ranked just outside the Top 1000 in singles and just inside the Top 700 in doubles.
Read also: Watch Team Canada's Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers on TVA Sports and CBC Gem
Zhiyenbayeva has only played one tournament so far in 2026. She lost in the first round of singles at the W35 in Arcadia, California, but reached the semifinals of the doubles. The teen ended 2025 with a bang, winning her first ITF doubles title in her final tournament of the year at the W50 in Austin, Texas. She is a two-time singles titlist on the ITF Tour, winning one on hard court and one on clay back in 2024.
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Feature Photo : Patrice Lapointe/Tennis Canada
