Canada's 'mental toughness' key to upsetting Belgium at Billie Jean King Cup, says coach

Heidi El Tabakh knows her Canadian squad will be in tough when they face Belgium at a Billie Jean King Cup qualifier next month.

The Canadian captain believes, however, that her team has the edge in one crucial area — grit.

"I honestly think it plays a huge role, if not the biggest," she said. "Because everyone at that level is able to play pretty incredible tennis. And I think at the end of the day, it comes down to mental toughness."

Picking teams for international events is getting tougher as Canadian tennis players continue to rise on the world stage, El Tabakh said.

"It's a nice problem to have," she said with a laugh. "We have some of our best players — if not our best players — participating this year. So very, very exciting. Hopefully everyone's healthy. And we'll be ready to go."

All four women taking part in this year's qualifier have proven that they'll fight through the final point in any given match, El Tabakh said, making Canada a tough team to play against.

The players have had strong starts to their 2023 campaigns, she added.

"I think they're all playing incredible tennis and have had pretty good starts to the year," she said. "All the matches have been pretty competitive, they've had great wins and really, really close, tough losses."

Andreescu is currently Canada's top-ranked player on the WTA Tour at No. 36. The 22-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won the U.S. Open in 2019 and will be playing in her first Billie Jean King Cup tie on home soil since 2018.

The international women's tournament is the one time of the year where Canada's female tennis players and coaches all come together with the same goal, El Tabakh said, and having Andreescu on the team will be a big boost.

"She's an incredible person as