Three current Top 10 players and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki will headline next month's regional events for the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge.
World No.8 Zheng Qinwen, No.9 Maria Sakkari, No.10 Jelena Ostapenko and Wozniacki are scheduled to anchor their countries' lineups in Group I action at the prestigious women's tennis team tournament. Group I play will take place at three locations from April 8 to 13.
These Group I events will determine who advances to November's Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs, with potential spots in the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers and Finals on the line.
The Europe/Africa Group I event will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, where Sakkari's Greek squad, Ostapenko's Latvian team and Wozniacki's Danish lineup will be among the 12 contenders. Wozniacki is slated to make her first Billie Jean King Cup appearance since 2015.
The top four teams from Europe/Africa Group I will reach November's Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs.
A maiden Grand Slam final for Qinwen Zheng 🇨🇳
— ITF (@ITFTennis) January 25, 2024
She becomes the youngest Chinese player to reach a GS final 💪pic.twitter.com/dKbe7dPiF7
Changsha, China will host the Asia/Oceania Group I showdown. Zheng, this year's Australian Open runner-up, will lead her team in her home country. India, South Korea and New Zealand are some of the other countries in the mix.
And the Americas Group I event will take place in Bogota, Colombia, where Camila Osorio will be the highest-ranked player on her home soil. Five more South American teams will join the Colombian squad in Bogota.
The top two teams from both Americas Group I and Asia/Oceania Group I will also make it into November's Play-offs.
You can find the full list of teams competing in these Group I events (and the same week's Europe/Africa Group II event in Vilnius, Lithuania) at the links below:
- Americas Group I – Bogota, Colombia
- Asia/Oceania Group I – Changsha, China
- Europe/Africa Group I – Lisbon, Portugal
- Europe/Africa Group II – Vilnius, Lithuania
Congratulations to @leylahfernandez, the 2023 #BJKCup Finals Heart Award Winner! https://t.co/3HFliOepWy
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) December 20, 2023
In other news, later this week, the teams will be announced for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, which will take place April 12 and 13.
The winning nations from the Qualifiers will reach this year's Billie Jean King Cup Finals, where they will join defending champion Canada, 2023 runner-up Italy, host nation Spain and wild card Czech Republic. Canada stormed to a historic maiden Billie Jean King Cup title last year.
The losing nations from the Qualifiers head to the Play-offs in November, where they will face off against the successful teams from the aforementioned Group I events.