The government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport within Great Britain has said they could submit an application to host two team tennis events over the next decade.

UK Sport has labelled both the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup Finals as an ‘opportunity’ for them to host in their 10-year strategic plan which will last until 2021. Overall the country is looking at the possibility of staging 97 events across 44 sports over the next 10 years. Those behind the plan believe such a move could generate a total of £7 billion for the UK economy. A live feasibility study is already underway for bidding to host the 2030 football World Cup, 2026 European Athletic Championships and more.

“Together we have achieved so much in Olympic and Paralympic sport. Nevertheless, we are very aware there is no room for complacency and that we must build on our success to create the next exciting phase of high-performance sport,” UK Sport chair Dame Katherine Grainger said in a statement.
“One where we work even more collaboratively and inclusively to keep winning and win well, in ways that will inspire more people and have a broader impact on our society.
“Achieving on the world stage will still sit firmly at the heart of what we do. But we should not underestimate the powerful platform that provides us with, and it is our shared responsibility to better harness this for positive social change.”

When it comes to both the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup, UK Sport has categorized them as a mega event. Meaning they are ‘seen as the pinnacle of their sport at World level and which have significant staging costs, attract more than 100,000 live spectators, entail considerable delivery complexity and require extensive public funding and guarantee commitments.’ At present they have been labelled as an ‘opportunity’ by the agency. Meaning that no decision to bid to host them has been made yet but remains a good possibility.

The government made no reference to what venues could be used, especially regarding the tennis events which will require more than one court due to the change of the tournament in recent years. The finals of the team events now last for a week or so and are done initially in a group format before turning into a knock-out stage.

This year’s Davis Cup finals are taking place across three European cities. However, the women’s equivalent remains in doubt after the ITF ended their contract with the Hungarian Tennis Association who were meant to be holding the event. Hungary recently sent a letter saying it was no longer feasible to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UK is best known for its staging of the prestigious Wimbledon Championships, as well as other grass-court events. Furthermore, it also experienced great success in hosting the ATP Finals between 2009-2020 which attracted more than 2.8 million visitors during that period.

The Netherlands needed the deciding doubles win to move forward to next year’s qualifying round at the Billie Jean King Cup with a 3-2 win over China. 

Wang Xiyu beat Lesley Kerkhove 6-3 5-7 6-4 to give China a 2-1 lead. Aranxta Rus drew level to 2-2 when Wang Xinyu retired at 4-6 3-4. Rus and Demi Schuurs beat Zhang Shuai and Zu Yifan 6-1 6-4 in the decisive doubles match. 

Ukraine cruised past Japan 4-0 in Chornomonsk.  World number 5 Elina Svitolina beat Chihiro Muramatsu 6-3 6-2. Marta Kostyuk cruised past Yuki Naito 6-3 6-3 to give Ukraine a 2-0 lead after the first day. Svitolina battled past Naito 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-3) after the Japanese player came close to win as she served for the match at 5-4. 

Brazil pushed Brazil to the brink. Carolina Meligeni Alves beat Katarzyna Kawa 6-3 7-5 to force a deciding doubles match. Magdalena Frech teamed up with Katarzyna Kawa to beat Carolina Alves and Luisa Stefani 1-6 6-2 6-4. Frech won all three rubbers for her team. The world number 157 started the tie with a 6-4 6-3 over Alves. After winning both of her singles rubbers she teamed up with Kawa to beat Alves and Louisa Stefani in the doubles match 1-6 6-2 6-4. 

Great Britain led 2-0 overnight over Mexico in London, but Marcela Marcela Zacarias edged Heather Watson 6-3 7-6 (7-1). With Great Britain leading 2-1, Katie Boulter beat Giuliana Boulter 6-4 6-1 to clinch victory for Great Britain. 

Kazakhsan won the deciding doubles match to beat Argentina 3-2. Yulia Putintseva came back from a set and 1-3 down by winning 11 of the next 12 games to beat Nadia Podorska 2-6 6-4 6-0. World number 430 Maria Lourdes Carle beat Elena Rybakina 6-4 3-6 6-0 to level the tie. Rybakina bounce back to beat Podoroska 6-4 6-4. Putintseva beat Carle 7-6 (7-3) 5-3, but she suffered from cramps and was forced to withdraw from the match after Carle came back to win the tie-break of the second set 7-3. Yaroslava Schvedova and Anna Danilina to beat Carle and Podoroska 6-0 7-5 in the decisive doubles match. 

Latvia won the first three rubbers to beat India 3-1. Jelena Ostapenko overcame World number 174 Anika Raina 6-2 5-7 7-5. Latvian number 1 Anastasija Sevastova cruised past Karman Thandi 6-4 6-0. The next day Sevastova beat Raina 6-0 7-6 (7-4). 

The winners got through to the 2022 qualifying round, where they will bid to reach the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. 

Leylah Fernandez beat Nina Stojanovic in the third singles match to seal the tie for Canada.

Canada has booked a spot in the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers after beating Serbia 3-0 after Leylah Fernandez beat Nina Stojanovic in three tight sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that last two hours and 46 minutes with the Canadian hitting 31 winners.

“I’m honestly very proud of myself that I was able to push through the nerves of this match, It wasn’t going to be easy with the way that she played at the beginning of the first set and it proved how great of a player she is, today I tried to fight through everything, the Serbian team, my emotions and I was happy that I was able to pull through in the third set with all the match points I missed and then when the lights went out that was a moment to remember but I’m glad I was able to just get the win for Canada and for us to qualify for the next round.”

Both players did a good job holding serve the first couple games and we didn’t see a breakpoint until 2-2 when the Serb had three looks and managed to convert at the third time of asking to take a 3-2 lead.

At 5-3 with Fernandez serving to stay in the set Stojanovic picked up her level and earned two set points on the Canadian serve and managed to seal the set on the second opportunity to take a one set lead.

The Canadian kept fighting despite the fact she was down and in the first game of the second set she earned a breakpoint but was unable to convert. The Serb continued to play well and earned two breakpoints at 2-1 and broke to take a 3-1 lead.

Once again the Montreal native battled and managed to get the break back the very next game playing some great tennis. She would earn the crucial break to take a 4-3 lead and would break once again to win the second set on her opponent’s service game.

Before the third set would commence Stojanovic would call the trainer and take a medical timeout to have work done on her foot. Despite that she was able to break the Canadian in the first game of the final set as Fernandez had a poor service game.

The Canadian once again using her fighting spirit and determination not to give up earned six breakpoints in a very long service game that lasted 10 minutes but was finally able to get the break back.

The next game the Serb tried to regain her lead and earned two more breakpoints but the Canadian hung in and saved both and would hold serve.

At 3-3 the Serb kept pushing for the breakthrough and earned another breakpoint but the Canadian once again saved it. The very next game it was the Montreal native turn to have a chance to break and at the second time of asking the Canadian would break with a superb passing shot to take a 5-3 lead and serve for the match and the tie.

Another poor service game followed and Fernandez was broken at love and the next game the Canadian had five match points but the Serb saved all five. Then out of nowhere the lights went out and there was a 10-15 minute delay to resolve the issue.

After the short delay the Canadian would earn a sixth match point and this time she would win it to seal the win and the tie for Canada. With the tie sealed the two countries decided to play doubles for the dead rubber and it was Rebecca Marino and Carol Zhao who faced off against Aleksandra Krunic and Ivana Jorovic and it was the Canadians who would come back from a set down to win 6-7, 6-3, 10-0 to make it 4-0 Canada after two days of action.

After the final doubles match Hedi El Tabakh spoke to the Canadian media and gave her final thoughts of the tie this weekend.

“It was a battle from start to finish, I know the score-line is 4-0 but it was much closer than that, were up 2-0, two tough matches yesterday and we were able to pull it off, and obviously Leylah match today was the decider, in my opinion, it could have swung either way so it was a battle till the end, Nina played incredible tennis and congrats to her for all her work on the court, she improved a ton and she’s broken the top 100 so Leylah had to earn it today so I’m really happy with the way things turned out for us and couldn’t ask for a better result”.

She told Ubitennis afterwards if she thinks it was her best tie so far as captain of team Canada.

“This was the toughest, I mean for us to come back and win these last two ties was huge and the way the girls performed on the court was very satisfying and this was a very important tie for us so I am pleased with the way we handled things this week, everything was smooth from start to finish, the girls had a great week of practicing leading up to the matches and they were match ready and they delivered which was big and we needed that and I congratulate them for that”