The draw for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals has been released, and there are some interesting ties on the slate.
Eight qualifying ties played in mid-April determined the eight nations featured in Tuesday's draw for the Finals. They will join already-qualified Canada (defending champion), Spain (host nation), Italy (2023 runners-up), and Czechia (wild card).
Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the USA are the eight nations that sealed their spots in the qualifiers that finished on April 13th.
Twelve nations will contest the 2024 BJK Cup Finals. The top four seeded teams will get a bye in the first round and begin their journey from the quarterfinal stage. These are Canada (top seed), Czechia (second seed), Italy (third seed), and Australia (fourth seed).
Ties will be played in a knock-out format, with Seville, Spain, chosen as the host city for a second year in a row. The Finals will be played over nine days, beginning on November 12th and ending on the 20th.
Defending champions Canada will await the winner of the tie between Germany and Great Britain in the quarterfinal. The Germans can count on the experience of Angelique Kerber, Tatjana Maria, and Laura Siegemund, with the latter coming up trumps in their fantastic win over Brazil in the qualifiers.
Great Britain notched an upset away win over France thanks to the return of Emma Raducanu to the fold. The former US Open champion will be the country's talisman when they face the two-time winners in November.
The USA is the most successful country in the history of the BJK Cup competition, with 18 titles. New captain Lindsay Davenport oversaw a 4-0 rout of Belgium in the qualifiers and has been rewarded with a first-round tie against Slovakia.
Should they win that, they will face Australia in the quarterfinal. Coco Gauff was not selected in the qualifying win over the Belgians but will be determined to feature in the Finals, as will Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, who stepped up in the absence of the World No. 3.
Iga Swiatek's Poland has been drawn against home nation Spain, with a quarterfinal date against 11-time winner Czechia looming large. Lastly, Japan, which has never won this competition, will play Romania. There is a possibility we might see Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep face off in a battle of Grand Slam champions.
The winner of Japan-Romania will face last year's runners-up, Italy, in the quarterfinal. The complete draw for this year's Billie Jean King Cup Finals can be seen below.
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