Billie Jean King Cup Finals: All you need to know about the women’s ‘World Cup of Tennis’
The Billie Jean King Cup Finals will be held between November 7-12 at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville with 12 teams competing in four groups of three,ahead of the semi-finals; head to the Sky Sports website and app, for live scores, reports, analysis and features
Image: Belinda Bencic raises the Billie Jean King Cup after Switzerland defeat Australia to become 2022 champions
The 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, held between November 7-12 at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville, Spain, features 12 teams competing in four round-robin groups of three, with the winners advancing on to the semi-finals.
What is the Billie Jean King Cup?
Image: The competition was renamed to honour 39-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King
You may remember it by its previous name of the Federation Cup, or its abbreviated form – Fed Cup.
In 2020 the competition was renamed to honour 39-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King – who won it seven times as a player and four times as a captain.
Founded in 1963, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ITF, it has become the world’s largest annual team competition in women’s sport and this year boasted participation from 134 nations.
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Who are the teams playing this year?
- Switzerland (Defending champions)
- Australia (Last year’s finalists)
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Poland (Wildcard)
- Slovenia
- Spain
- USA
Where are Great Britain?
Image: Katie Boulter will lead Great Britain in a Play-Off tie against Sweden
Following their defeat to France in the Qualifiers back in April, Great Britain will be looking to bounce back with a victorious performance against Sweden in a Play-Off tie.
It will take place at the Copper Box Arena, between November 11-12, with each tie consisting of five rubbers.
Maia Lumsden, the British No 1 in doubles, has received a first call-up after a strong year, with the Glaswegian reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals alongside countrywoman Naiktha Bains and rising to 80th in the world doubles rankings.
Image: Doubles specialist Maia Lumsden, 25, has received a first call-up to the Great Britain team
Lumsden joins Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Heather Watson and Harriet Dart in the British team.
Sweden booked their spot in the Play-Offs after topping their group at the Europe/Africa Group I event in Antalya, Turkey back in April, where they won five of their six ties.
How does the format work?
The 12 teams are split into four round-robin groups, and the winners of each group will advance to the semi-finals ahead of the final.
All ties will consist of three matches – two singles, followed by doubles.
What are the Groups & Teams?
Group A
| Switzerland | Czech Republic | USA |
| Belinda Bencic | Marketa Vondrousova | Madison Keys |
| Viktorija Golubic | Karolina Muchova | Sofia Kenin |
| Celine Naef | Barbora Krejcikova | Danielle Collins |
| Jil Teichmann | Linda Noskova | Sloane Stephens |
| Katerina Siniakova | Taylor Townsend |
Group B
| Australia | Kazakhstan | Slovenia |
|---|---|---|
| Kimberly Birrell | Elena Rybakina | Tamara Zidansek |
| Storm Hunter | Yulia Putintseva | Kaja Juvan |
| Daria Saville | Zhibek Kulambayeva | Veronika Erjavec |
| Ajla Tomljanovic | Aruzhan Sagandikova | Nina Potocnik |
| Ellen Perez | Anna Danilina | Ela Nala Milic |
Group C
| Spain | Canada | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Paula Badosa | Leylah Fernandez | Magda Linette |
| Sara Sorribes Tormo | Rebecca Marino | Magdalena Frech |
| Rebeka Masarova | Eugenie Bouchard | Katarzyna Kawa |
| Cristina Bucsa | Marina Stakusic | Weronika Falkowska |
| Marina Bassols Ribera | Gabriela Babrowski |
Group D
| France | Italy | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Caroline Garcia | Jasmine Paolini | Tatjana Maria |
| Varvara Gracheva | Elisabetta Cocciaretto | Anna-Lena Friedsam |
| Clara Burel | Martina Trevisan | Laura Siegmund |
| Alize Cornet | Lucia Bronzetti | Eva Lys |
| Kristina Mladenovic | Lucrezia Stefanini | Jule Niemeier |
What do you need to watch out for?
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King shares how she was able to help the US Open become the first Grand Slam to give equal prize money for men and women
There are some very strong and experienced teams ready to do battle in Seville.
Team USA might be missing US Open champion Coco Gauff, but they are not lacking for Slam champions and finalists with Sloane Stephens, Sofia Kenin and Madison Keys heading their line-up.
Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic boast a brace of Wimbledon champions – Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova.
Rybakina and Vondrousova will have to hot-foot it from Cancun, where the season-ending WTA Finals will be taking place.
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King praises US Open champion Coco Gauff and urges Emma Raducanu to put her health first
Belatedly announced as the venue for the curtain-closing finale, there are no direct flights from Cancun to Seville, and there has been a lot of tension around the clash of dates.
“We’ve [the ITF] had our date for a long time, I think you should ask the WTA – they’re the ones that put their date in a few weeks [ago],” King told reporters, ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
“As far as our sport, I think we all need to figure out a better calendar for the players and everybody knowing what’s going to happen, because you can’t start making these decisions on the finals in like September. It’s only fair. Can you imagine if a major didn’t know its dates?”
The Billie Jean King Cup starts on November 7, with last year’s finalists Australia opening the tournament against Slovenia, while defending champions Switzerland take on Czech Republic.
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Sourse: skysports.com