The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that Seville, Spain will host the Finals of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge.
The climax of the 2023 women’s World Cup of Tennis will take place on 7-12 November with 12 teams battling it out to take home the coveted trophy and don the iconic Billie Blue jackets. This year the Billie Jean King Cup is celebrating 60 years since the global event was first played in June 1963 in London.
Last year’s winners Switzerland and runners-up Australia will be joined by the nine nations that triumphed in April’s Qualifiers: Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Spain and USA. The ITF has also awarded a wildcard for the Finals to Poland.
Teams will compete in four round-robin groups of three, with the four group winners progressing to the semi-finals.
This will be the sixth time and first since 2008 that Spain has hosted the Finals of the competition. Seville will host the event for the next two years, with an option to extend for a third year. Further details about this year’s venue will be confirmed in due course.
Since being re-branded from the Fed Cup in 2020, the competition has continued to develop as a bold, powerful platform for the growth of women’s tennis across the world. It was broadcast in an unprecedented 196 territories in 2022, and a record 134 nations have entered this year. Champions Switzerland took home a record $2m for their triumph at the 2022 Finals in Glasgow. The ITF also welcomed new title sponsor Gainbridge and new apparel partner Tory Burch in 2022, joining Microsoft and Magellan as the global sponsors of the event.
The ITF has also confirmed today that the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Juniors and Davis Cup Juniors Finals will take place in Cordoba, with details of dates and venues to be announced in due course. The announcement comes as part of a wider partnership between the ITF and the Region of Andalucia which will see the region host all ITF major team events this year, including the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “Following a competitive bidding process and some impressive proposals from a number of potential hosts, we are delighted to announce Seville as the host of this year’s Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals. We are very confident the city will stage a fantastic event and do justice to what is the culmination of a year’s worth of exhilarating competition in the women’s World Cup of Tennis. I am sure Seville will provide the perfect setting for the electric atmosphere of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, and I am looking forward to seeing supporters from around the world joining us for this unique occasion. Throughout the various stages of the event this year we have seen how much it means to players to represent their countries, and I have no doubt that passion will be on show again in Seville.
“We are also looking forward to bringing the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals to Cordoba later this year. Both events give young tennis players a fantastic opportunity to experience the unique atmosphere of playing in a team for their country, and Cordoba will be a great setting for that experience.”
Arturo Bernal, Region of Andalucia Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, said: “Andalucía has earned the right to become a destination for important international sport events. Everyone wants to come to our region due to the warm welcome we give to athletes and the top-level facilities we can provide. This is why the ITF has once again trusted us to host their major events. We will become the first region to host the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Finals in the same year, as well as the junior category of both events. In short, Andalucia is once again the home of international sport.”
With the exception of Poland, the losing nations from the Qualifiers (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Great Britain, Mexico, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine) will compete in the 2023 Play-offs on 10-11 or 11-12 November, alongside the seven teams that won promotion from the three regional Group I events which also took place in April: Argentina and Colombia (from Americas Group I); Japan and Korea, Rep. (from Asia/Oceania Group I); and Hungary, Netherlands and Sweden (from Europe/Africa Group I). Serbia will take the place of Poland in the Play-off draw by virtue of being the highest finishing non-promoted team from Europe/Africa Group I in 2023.
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