MONTREAL — Eugenie Bouchard’s career has hit a standstill.

The Westmount, Que., native lost in singles competition for the second time in as many days as Romania defeated Canada 3-2 in a Fed Cup World Group playoff tie.

"It is definitely the difficult part of my career," Bouchard said after the loss. "But I tried my best, and it was a close match particularly in the first and second sets."

Andreea Mitu defeated Bouchard 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday to give Romania the edge in the best-of-five series. Romania clinched the tie when Alexandra Dulgheru defeated Francoise Abanda 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Mitu, ranked 104th in the world, was a late replacement for 33rd-ranked Irina-Camelia Begu, who was injured in a loss to Abanda on Saturday.

It is a much different situation than last year for the No. 7 ranked Bouchard. She was awarded the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award in December for a second year in a row after winning her first career title in 2014, along with reaching the Wimbledon final.

Bouchard, 21, says she knows what it takes to get back to that elite level.

"I know how to get there, because I’ve been in those tough match situations before," Bouchard said. "I am going to skip the tournament in Stuttgart, train more, and play in Madrid."

Bouchard struggled in both her singles matches in the tie, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Dulgheru Saturday after Abanda’s win gave Canada a 1-0 edge.

Abanda faced Dulgheru in the last singles match, while Gabriela Dabrowski and Sharon Fichman were scheduled to face Mitu and Raluca Olaru in a doubles match.

Romania will play in the elite eight-team Fed Cup World Group in 2016, while Canada is relegated to the World Group II division.

Bouchard started the match well, breaking Mitu’s serve to take a 5-4 lead then holding her serve to take the first set 6-4.

Mitu was very strong at the start of the second set, breaking Bouchard in her first serving game en route to taking a 2-0 lead.

Bouchard fought back and tied the set but was broken again to fall behind 5-4. The Canadian had three break points in a row in the next game, Mitu managed to saved them all and won second set 6-4.

Mitu broke Bouchard three times in winning the third set, and the match.

Abanda had a strong first set against Dulgheru and continued rolling to a 4-2 lead in the second. Dulgheru then showed her experience by holding serve and breaking Abanda to even the set at four.

The experience factor continued into the third set, when Dulgheru cruised to victory.

"Playing back to back matches at that level is a new experience for me, so I was a bit tired after yesterday’s match and the first two sets," Abanda said.

Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Toronto’s Sharon Fichman gave the Canadians their second win of the tie after downing Romania’s Andreea Mitu and Raluca Olaru 6-1, 4-6, 10-5.