Team captain Bruneau believes Canada can do well at Billie Jean King Cup without Fernandez and Andreescu

Although US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez and 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu will not be representing Canada at this year's Billie Jean King Cup, interim team captain Sylvain Bruneau believes the team should not be written off.

The Canadian team suffered a major blow as their two highest-ranked players pulled out of the event, with Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh getting married during the Billie Jean King Cup. El Tabakh was replaced by Bruneau, who nominated Rebecca Marino, Carol Zhao, Francoise Abanda and Gabriela Dabrowski to represent Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup.

"I’ve always enjoyed team competition and representing our country, I think this is the biggest privilege and honor, so this is for this one time and I appreciate it as always," said Bruneau. "This is a special event as well because we’ve never been in these surroundings with the top countries at the end of the year, it’s very special, so we’re really enjoying it,"

Bruneau remains confident that the team can make a deep run at the event, with Canada duking it out against France and Czech Republic in the group stage.

"We’re up for it and I know the girls are going to give everything they’ve got," added Bruneau. "I believe that, even if on paper we’re probably lesser-ranked, that everything’s possible, I really trust that."

The Billie Jean King Cup Finals will be hosted in Prague, and runs from November 1-6, 2021.