CURITIBA, Brazil -- Canada's hopes of advancing at the Fed Cup took a serious blow Thursday with a 3-0 defeat to Argentina.
Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., opened with a 7-5, 6-4 loss to 19-year-old Paula Ormaechea.
Canada needed a win from Stephanie Dubois in the second singles match of the day to stay alive, but the Laval, Que., native fell 6-2, 6-2 to Florencia Molinero as Argentina clinched the tie.
Mailen Auroux and Maria Irigoyen then defeated Toronto's Sharon Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier of Repentigny, Que., 6-0, 6-3 in doubles to complete the sweep.
Canada will face the Bahamas on Friday in their final round robin tie. In order for the Canadians to have a chance to finish first in their group and play for a spot in the World Group II playoffs in April, they must beat the Bahamas and hope Peru defeats Argentina.
If that were to happen, a tiebreaker would be used by the ITF to determine which team would finish first in the group. If Canada fails to advance, it will remain in the Americas Zone Group I for 2013 and not play any additional Fed Cup ties during the 2012 season.
Canada defeated Peru 2-1 on Wednesday.
