Rebecca Marino, Marina Stakusic, and first-time selections Victoria Mboko, Kayla Cross, and Ariana Arseneault will form Team Canada at the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Qualifiers.
As part of Group A, the Canadian team, ranked No. 2 in the world, will face Romania (No. 13) and Japan (No. 14) from April 11 to 13, 2025 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. The group winner will advance to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November.
“It will be exciting to get back on the road with the team as we have our sights set on reaching another Billie Jean King Cup Finals,” said team captain Heidi El Tabakh. “After winning the title in 2023 and experiencing all the wonderful emotions that came with it, we would like nothing more than to make another deep run. We have every confidence in the team we’re bringing to Tokyo, with some of our top up-and-coming players joining us for the tie, and we look forward to competing against the strong Romanian and Japanese teams.”
Marino, 34, who was part of the championship team in 2023, has been named to Team Canada for the 13th time, and currently holds a record of 7-10 at the competition. The world No. 108 finished the 2024 season in great fashion, claiming her biggest career title at the Dow Tennis Classic, a WTA 125-level event held in Midland, Michigan. So far this season, Marino has reached the semifinals of the WTA 125 L&T Mumbai Open and took part in the Australian Open main draw, her first main-draw appearance at a major since the 2024 edition of the event in Melbourne, Australia.
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The 2024 campaign was also excellent for 20-year-old Stakusic, who captured her best title to date at the WTA 125 Abierto Tampico and reached her first Grand Slam main draw as a qualifier at Wimbledon. She is currently ranked No. 129 in the world after starting last season in the 275th spot. The Qualifiers in Tokyo will be Stakusic’s third appearance at the Billie Jean King Cup, having played a key role in Canada’s historic victory in 2023 when she defeated Spain’s Rebeka Masarova, Poland’s Magdalena Frech, and Italy’s Martina Trevisan en route to the title.
Mboko, 18, currently sits at a career-best ranking of No. 188 after a dream start to the season. In 2025, she holds a record of 27 wins and one loss in singles, as well as a 6-1 record in doubles, winning seven titles over that span (five singles, two doubles). Mboko also broke the Canadian record for the most consecutive main-draw wins on the professional circuit by a woman with 20, surpassing Marino’s 18-match run. Next week, she will be taking part in her first WTA 1000 main draw after receiving a wild card for the Miami Open.
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Cross is fresh from winning her first title of the season at the ITF W35 event in Arcadia, California. She also reached two ITF W75 quarter-finals in 2025, helping her climb to No. 250 in the world, a new career best. Last year, the 19-year-old won seven titles, six of which were in doubles, and currently occupies the 177th spot in the doubles rankings.
Rounding out the team is 22-year-old Arseneault, who is Canada’s third-highest-ranked doubles player at No. 131 in world. After winning four doubles titles in 2024, including two with compatriot Cross, the Richmond Hill native claimed her first doubles title of the season in February at the ITF W35 in Manchester, Great Britain.
The 2025 Qualifiers will take place in six groups of three nations using a round-robin format, as the final phase will change from a 12-team event in 2024 to an eight-team event in 2025.
For more information on the Billie Jean King Cup and its new format, click here.
