THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL -- Stephanie Dubois and Aleksandra Wozniak breezed through their opening matches to lift Canada over the Bahamas in BNP Paribas Fed Cup women's tennis play on Thursday night at Uniprix Stadium.
Dubois, of Laval, Que., lost only five points in the second set of a quick, 45-minute 6-0, 6-0 victory over 16-year-old Kerrie Cartwright in the first singles match.
Blainville, Que., native Wozniak, Canada's top-ranked player at 32nd in the world, was marginally more challenged in a 6-0, 6-2 victory over harder-serving Nikkita Fountain.
And the doubles team of Dubois and Sharon Fichman of Toronto made it a sweep of the best-of-three tie with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Cartwright and Fountain.
Fountain, who is not part of any regular tour, broke Wozniak's service to open the second set and then held service for 2-2, but the Canadian recovered and closed out the match with pace.
"She started being more aggressive, and I'm playing indoors here after the Australian Open, so it's a new surface, but I think I picked it up," said Wozniak, who has been nursing a hamstring injury. "I just needed to give it all I can on court. I need more matches under my belt to get my rhythm back."
Canada is 1-0 in round robin play in its three-team group and needs a win over Puerto Rico on Friday night to book a spot in the final of the Fed Cup Americas Zone I event on Saturday afternoon.
The Bahamas, beaten by Puerto Rico on Wednesday night, dropped to 0-2 and next will face the third-place team from the second group. The loser will drop to Americas Zone II for next year's Fed Cup.
Fountain was happy to give Wozniak close games.
"I just cracked a joke with my coach that I'm ready to quit my job and go on tour -- I was only one point away each game or it could have been a different match," said the former Florida International University player. "But I had fun because I don't play any more, I just teach tennis."
In the other group, Colombia defeated Brazil 2-1 with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 doubles victory. In singles play, Catalina Castano downed Maria Fernanda Alves 6-3, 6-4, but Brazil tied it when Vivian Segnini upset Mariana Duque Marino 6-2, 6-3.
The small grandstand holds only 700 and it was full for Canada's easy win.
Dubois showed no mercy to her young opponent.
"I didn't know her, but some girls are coming on -- they're playing tournaments and they may move up the rankings," said Dubois, ranked 118th in the world. "Every opponent is tough, so you need to focus on your own game and do your stuff."
Team captain Rene Collins called it a good first day of competition.
"I know it's a fairly weak team we played, but these matches are still difficult to play in front of your fans because they really want to do well and they put pressure on themselves," she said. "So I was really happy with the way it went."
Puerto Rico should be another clear victory. Like the Bahamas, it has no players ranked by the WTA.
"I expect them to be a little bit better, but not exceptionally so," said Collins. "It's a matter of getting through the nerves and expectations of playing at home. Every match is a challenge."
The winner of the event advances to the playoffs in April for World Group II, which has the ninth to the 16th top teams in the world. A country must get there to have a chance to break into World Group I, which has the top eight teams.
Canada is currently ranked 21st.
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