Which teams could Great Britain face in the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals?
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Great Britain are through to the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals for the first time since 2022, after defeating France away from home in this year’s Qualifiers.
Looking ahead to the Finals in Seville after an action-packed weekend of qualifying ties – here’s a rundown of all 12 teams set to compete for the title later this year.
Line-up for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals
2023 Champions: Canada
Defending champions Canada will be hoping to retain their title as tehy return to the Finals in Seville.
The Canadian side had automatic entry into the Finals after winning their first title in the history of the competition in 2023.
2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez and teenage star Marina Stakusic spearheaded a Canadian team that defeated Italy in the final 2-0.
2023 Runners-up: Italy
Another automatic qualification spot this year went to last year’s runners-up Italy.
This strong Italian side, led by Martina Trevisan and Jasmine Paolini, made their first final since 2013 after wins against France, Germany and Slovenia.
The Italians are currently at No.5 in the national rankings and will be going in search of a fifth title in their history.
Wild card: Spain
As the host nation of this year’s Finals, Spain has a wild card entry to become part of the final 12.
Spain are five-time champions in this competition but haven’t won the title since 1998.
Having defeated Mexico in their Qualifier last year, the Spanish team – consisting of Sara Sorribes Tormo, Rebekah Masarova, Cristina Bucsa and Marina Bassols Ribera – went out in the Finals Group Stages after losing to Italy 3-0.
The team will be hoping that former world No.2 Paula Badosa will be available for selection this year.
Wild card: Czech Republic
The final automatic qualification spot has gone to 11-time champions, Czech Republic.
The Czech team have been the dominant force in the competition in recent history – winning six titles between 2011 and 2018.
Last year, they progressed to the semi-finals after beating Switzerland and the USA in the Finals Group Stage.
Despite Barbora Krejickova claiming the opening victory against Canada in the semis – Fernandez’s 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova followed by a victory in the doubles saw the Canadians reach the final.
Captain Petr Pala will be hoping that 2024 is the year they claim a first title in the Finals format.
Australia
Australia has a rich history in this competition with the third most titles of any nation (7) – behind only the USA and Czech Republic.
At the 2022 Finals in Glasgow, they defeated Great Britain in the semi-finals before eventually finishing as runners-up to Switzerland.
The No.2 ranked team in the world were knocked out in the Finals Group Stage last year with a loss against Slovenia in their first match.
This year, the team are led by a new captain in Sam Stosur, have got off to the perfect start after a 4-0 victory over Mexico in their Qualifier.
Great Britain
Arguably the biggest upset of the 2024 Qualifiers was the Brits claiming a 3-1 win over France on the indoor clay courts at Le Chaudron.
Heroic performances from British No.1 Katie Boulter and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu saw the Brits clinch a historic win over the fifth seeds.
The last time Great Britain featured in the Finals was in 2022, where the team made the semi-finals.
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team will be a fierce opponent for anyone in the Finals. Not only will they be high on confidence after the win in France, but this current team are all at or around career-high rankings with plenty more to come between now and the end of the season.
Germany
Germany will fancy themselves as a dark horse at this year’s Finals, coming off an impressive 3-1 victory against Brazil.
Laura Siegemund picked up a big win over world No.13 Beatriz Haddad Maia, followed by victory over Carolina Alves, while Tatjana Maria came from a set down to beat Laura Pigossi.
Germany’s best result in recent history was a runner-up finish to Czech Republic in 2014, but last year lost both of their Finals Group Stage matches against Italy and France.
Japan
Japan were one of the standouts from the 2024 Qualifiers after they defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 to reach the Finals for the first time.
World No.85 Nao Habino was the star of the show after beating Ana Danilina 6-1, 6-0, before closing out the tie by defeating Yulia Putintseva in a third set tie-break.
Japan will be ones to watch, especially now they have four-time major champion Naomi Osaka back in the squad – who sealed her sixth victory for her country against Putintseva on Friday. This was the first time Osaka has played for Japan since 2021.
Poland
Led by world No.1 Iga Swiatek, Poland will be one of the hot favourites to win their first Billie Jean King Cup title in 2024.
Swiatek and Magda Frech took the Polish side to a comprehensive 4-0 win over 2022 champions Switzerland in the qualifying rounds.
The four-time major champion was absent from last year’s team that went out in the Finals Group Stage without winning a rubber. Swiatek hasn’t lost a match for Poland since 2019.
Romania
Another team into their first Billie Jean King Cup Finals are Romania who edged a 3-2 win over Ukraine in the only match to go to a deciding doubles rubber during qualifying.
Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Adina Cristian came from two matches down to beat a strong Ukrainian team that included Elina Svitolina and Lesia Tsurenko.
Romania were a semi-finalist in 2019 where they narrowly lost out to eventual champions France 3-2.
Slovakia
Slovakia have reached the Finals in three of the four years since the introduction of the new format – the most recent being this year after a dominant 4-0 win over Slovenia.
Teenager Renata Jamrichova was a highlight performer in a tie that also saw wins for Anna Schmiedlova and Viktoria Hruncakova.
Captain Matej Liptak and his team will be hoping they can upset the party in Seville having narrowly lost out to last year’s runners-up Italy 3-2 in the 2023 Qualifiers.
USA
The winningest team in the competition’s history with 18 titles, USA come into 2024 with a different look under new captain Lindsay Davenport.
Without top-ranked star Coco Gauff, the USA defeated Belgium 3-0 with victories for Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro.
They will be hoping to make their first final since 2018 and lift the trophy again, seven years on from their win over Belarus. On paper, their team could include four players inside the WTA top 20.
