Canada and Italy Reach Billie Jean King Cup Final

Canada makes history with first final appearance, Italy returns to final after a decade. Slovenia celebrates first semi-final despite loss to Italy.

Canada has made history by reaching its first Billie Jean King Cup final, where it will face Italy, who returns to the final after a decade.
Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski secured their place in the final by defeating the Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in a decisive doubles match.
Despite losing to Italy in the semi-finals, Slovenia celebrated its first-ever semi-final appearance in the tournament, having the best sets win-loss record of the three teams in their group.
Italy's Martina Trevisan and Jasmine Paolini both won their matches in straight sets against Slovenia, securing Italy's place in the final.
The Czech Republic, an 11-time champion, was ousted from the tournament by Canada, despite having won all seven previous meetings with the Canadian team.
The winners of the Billie Jean King Cup will receive prize money of $2.4m (£2.1m), part of an overall payment pot of $9.6m (£8.4m), a record figure for the event.