By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, March 15, 202
Skilled champions and rising stars will lead the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup quest.
World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Emma Navarro, Caroline Dolehide and Taylor Townsend will lead Group USA when it hosts Belgium subsequent month, U.S. captain Lindsay Davenport introduced as we speak.
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America will host Belgium within the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier April 12-13 on the USTA Nationwide Campus in Lake Nona, Florida.
The tie launches former Olympic gold medal champion and Corridor of Famer Davenport’s tenure as captain.
The four-time year-end world No. 1, Davenport was one of the profitable U.S. Billie Jean King Cup gamers in historical past, serving to to steer the U.S. to titles in 1996, 1999, and 2000. Davenport performed underneath fellow Corridor of Famer and former U.S. captain Billie Jean King and was a serious drive in singles and doubles.
The Qualifier is a best-of-five match collection performed on an out of doors onerous court docket that begins Friday, April 12, with two singles matches, beginning at 6 p.m. Two reverse singles matches and a doubles match will comply with on Saturday, April 13, beginning at 2 p.m., with an amended Saturday schedule doable if one nation clinches victory within the third or fourth singles match.
Tennis Channel will characteristic TV protection within the U.S.
A restricted variety of tickets will probably be accessible to the general public for Friday’s and Saturday’s matches via the USTA’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier Spherical Sweepstakes, which can present followers the chance to enter for as much as two complimentary tickets.
Please go to USTANationalCampus.com to submit an entry and for the Official Guidelines.
The 2021 NCAA singles champion Navarro shocked second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 scoring her greatest profession win and battling to her fourth quarterfinal of the season on the BNP Paribas Open this week.
The 30-year-old Pegula has performed in three Billie Jean King Cup ties for the U.S., with a 3-1 singles document, and has helped the U.S. qualify for the Finals every of the final two years.
Orlando resident Keys, 29, is a BJK Cup veteran. The Twentieth-ranked Keys has performed in eight Billie Jean King Cup ties for the U.S. since debuting in 2014 and has been coached by Davenport on tour, together with when she reached the US Open ladies’s singles last in 2017.
Dolehide, 25, is ranked a career-high No. 51 in singles and No. 30 in doubles. She made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for the U.S. within the 2021 Finals, reached her first WTA singles last in 2023 and is coming off her greatest BNP Paribas Open efficiency.
The left-handed Townsend, 27, is ranked No. 77 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. Townsend owns a 3-1 document in doubles matches over 4 Billie Jean King Cup nominations and has competed within the Finals for the final two years.
Picture credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty
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