Canada advance to 2026 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers as Mboko and Branstine lead clean sweep

Canada has advanced to the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers after taking down hosts Mexico on Sunday to win Group A play-offs at Club Sonoma with Victoria Mboko and Carson Branstine leading from the front.

Mboko defeated Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-1 in just 53 minutes to set the stall out against Mexico's best hope of defeating the Canadian team so the writing was fairly on the wall before Carson Branstine, the American-Canadian who didn't play in the previous tie returned to action and saw off Julia Garcia.

They had unnecessary issues at times against a Denmark team without Clara Tauson as Rebecca Munk Mortensen took down Cadence Brace but it was more experience needed this time around as Branstine won 6-3, 7-6.

The equation was fairly simple too as Canada had to win both their singles match to move through or they needed to play a must-win doubles match with Gabriela Dabrowski and Mboko scheduled to face Giuliana Olmos and Zarazua. Canada beat Denmark 2-1 on Saturday to force Sunday's winner take-all showdown after Mexico also beat Denmark on Friday 2-1.

Branstine who was duly noted during her Wimbledon qualifying run that saw her lose to Aryna Sabalenka has previously been a model and lives in Hollywood. She was born in the States but represents Canada due to her mother defected in 2017 and needed one hour and 39 minutes to dispose of the 22-year-old Garcia in their back garden with the match taking place in Mexico.

Branstine finished with one ace, three double faults and won 3/4 break points and saved 2/5 on the opposite end. She won 65% of points on serve and was nervous she admits going into the clash.

"I will be honest, I was a little bit nervous going into the match," Branstine said. "Not only because it was my first tie, but I haven't played a match and just honestly not tons of tennis in the past month, six weeks. I was struggling with a hamstring pull at the end of the season, and obviously, my biggest priority was to get that healthy.

"All these girls are working hard and putting in the hours every day. I knew my level was there, but you just never know at these ties. I executed, had a great time and got the win."

While Mboko led from the front in sealing the deal finishing the match with five aces, three double faults and five break point conversions. She won 89% of her points on first serve and was not broken at all in her dominant 6-1, 6-1 win. She summed it up as difficult but the scoreline of course tells a different picture.

"Today was obviously a difficult match," said Mboko. "It's never easy to play a really great, talented player, especially in their home country. I'm glad I was able to lock in and get the win today for the team."