The first edition of the Billie Jean Cup Finals is set to get underway in Prague but organisers are already thinking about what could be in store for the future.
Known previously as the Federation Cup, the women’s finale has been transformed into a weeklong event featuring a total of 12 countries. Moving away from its tradition of a two-team final with home and away ties. The revamp occurs just a couple years after a similar change was made to the Davis Cup, which was approved after receiving enough support from a vote that took place at an ITF AGM meeting.
However, preparations for the inaugural Billie Jean King Cup Finals have been far from smooth. The event was initially due to be staged in April 2020 but was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then this year the Hungarian Tennis Association announced they no longer wish to host the event. Paving way for Prague to step in as a late replacement.
David Haggerty is the president of the International Tennis Federation who has overseen the recent changes made to the two historic team events. Speaking to City AM, the American official indicated that the decision to move the finals from April to November will be a permanent plan for the future.
“I think most of the stakeholders believe that the end of the season makes sense,” said Haggerty.
“We’ve had conversations with the WTA about this as well and that’s where we’ve slotted in and that’s where we’ll be looking for for 2022 and beyond, in November for sure.”
It has been a case that the women’s event has been based on their male equivalent. This year’s Davis Cup finals will be taking place in three different cities for the first time. Turin, Innsbruck and Madrid will be staging matches with Madrid being the location for all semi-final and final ties. Haggerty says the ITF intends to continue the multi-city approach because it ‘ticked all the boxes’ and hopes it can be applied to the women’s competition.
“It’s something that could happen, that preliminarily we are looking at,” he commented.
Taking place a week before the WTA Finals in Mexico, the Billie Jean King Cup will be missing top names such as Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa who both recently pulled out of the event. Barbora Krejčíková and Belinda Bencic are the only top 10 players taking part.
Nevertheless, Haggerty is counting on the event being a success in hope that it will help him secure host countries in the future. It is currently unknown as to where the 2022 edition will be held.
“One of the things we felt was important was to showcase what it could be, because this will be the inaugural year that we move to this format,” he says.
“We want to be able to show that to all the nations and then have discussions about where the next editions will be.”
Some don’t like change
As the ITF hails a new milestone in the competition, some of those taking part have their reservations. French Open champion Krejčíková has openly said she preferred the old format. Her country, the Czech Republic, has won the women’s team title 11 times which is the second highest in history after America who has won it 18 times.
“I definitely preferred the old system with only two teams facing each other,” Krejcikova told reporters on Saturday.
French coach Julien Benneteau has echoed similar comments during a recent interview with Ouest-France. The former world No.25 will be hoping to guide his county to winning the title for a second time in a row. His team includes Alize Cornet, Caroline Garcia, Clara Burel and Fiona Ferro.
“We preferred the format before, now there is no point in elaborating,” Benneteau said.
“The situation is what it is.
“We have to adapt.
“I think there are things to adapt in the preparation to be ready in this new configuration.”
The Billie Jean King Cup finals have been split into four groups of three teams. After four days of round-robin matches, the winner of each group will then progress to the semi-finals.
List of Billie Jean King Cup Groups
- A = France, Russia and Canada
- B = Australia, Belarus and Belgium
- C = United States, Spain and Slovakia
- D = Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland
