Poland pick Bytom for Brazil bout

Poland has confirmed that its home clash with Brazil in the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Play-offs will still take place at the Hala Na Skarpie in the southern city of Bytom.

The contest, which had originally been due to take place on 17-18 April 2020, was postponed a second time from 5-6 February and will now be played on 16-17 April 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be just the second clash between the two nations in the women’s world cup of tennis.

Brazil won their only previous encounter on Japanese soil in Tokyo back in 1989, when Brazilians Luciana Tella and Gisele Miro won their singles encounters with Magdalena Mroz and Katarzyna Novak, respectively, in straight sets to put the tie beyond doubt.

The Billie Jean King Cup play-offs see 16 nations – the eight losers from the 2020 Qualifiers and the eight promoted teams from regional Group I events – go head-to-head in February in a bid to earn a place in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers in 2022. Those teams will then compete for a place at the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup Finals in 2022.

The Billie Jean King Cup is taking place throughout the 2020-2021 seasons due to the impact of COVID-19, with the competition set to return to its annual format in 2022.

Hosts Poland are on a five-tie winning streak in the competition, having won their Group I ties against Denmark, Ukraine, Slovenia, Turkey and Sweden. Their last loss came against a strong Russian side led by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova back in February 2019.

Brazil, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from defeats in their last two ties, having lost to Slovakia in April 2019 and Germany in February’s Qualifiers.