Zheng, Sakkari and Ostapenko headline Group I team announcements

12/03/2024 17:47

Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen, world No. 9 Maria Sakkari and Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko are among the players named in their nations’ squads for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Group I events next month.

Zheng, Sakkari and Ostapenko headline Group I team announcements
Zheng, who fell to Aryna Sabalenka in the final in Melbourne in January, will compete on home soil for China, P.R. at the Asia/Oceania Group I event in Changsha. She leads a talented Chinese team which contains three other Top 100 players: Wang Xinyu, Wang Xiyu and Zhu Lin. 
 
Competition will be fierce at the Europe/Africa Group I event in Lisbon, Portugal, with world No. 9 Sakkari leading the Greek team, while world No. 10 Ostapenko will represent Latvia. 
 
Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki is named as part of Denmark’s team for the first time since returning to the Tour last year. Other elite players set to compete in Lisbon include Arantxa Rus (Netherlands), Clara Tauson (Denmark) and Viktoria Tomova (Bulgaria).
 
The third Group I event in April will be Americas Group I, which is being hosted in Bogota, Colombia, where the home team's Camila Osorio and Argentina’s Lourdes Carles will be the highest-ranked players.
 
All three Group I events take place on 8-13 April 2024. The top four teams at the Europe/Africa Group I event and the top two teams at both the Americas Group I event and the Asia/Oceania Group I event will advance to the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs in November, where they will compete alongside the losing nations in the 2024 Qualifiers.
 
The Europe/Africa Group II event also takes place on 8-13 April in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the top two teams at the event winning promotion to Europe/Africa Group I in 2025. Three Top 100 players have been named in their nations’ teams for the event: the Croatian duo of Donna Vekic and Petra Martic and Egypt’s Mayar Sherif.