Miki the city for Japan v Ukraine

Japan’s home contest with Ukraine in the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Play-offs will take place on an indoor hard court at the Bourbon Beans Dome in Miki.

The clash, which had originally been due to take place on 17-18 April 2020 and was postponed again from 5-6 February in response to Covid-19 health concerns, will now take place on 16-17 April.

It will be Japan’s first tie in Miki, located to the northwest of Kobe in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan, since they defeated Great Britain at the same venue in April 2018.

The April tie will be the first meeting between the two nations in the women’s world cup of tennis, and the hosts face a tough ask to put a stop to Ukraine’s good run of form in the competition.

Buoyed by the presence of current world No. 5 Elina Svitolina and rising stars Dayana Yastremska and Marta Kostyuk, Mikhail Filima’s side went undefeated in their three Group I ties in February, reaching the Play-offs after convincing wins over Bulgaria, Croatia and Estonia.

Japan, by contrast, will enter the February tie off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Spain in the 2020 Qualifiers in Murcia, where Carla Suarez Navarro followed Sara Sorribes Tormo's shock victory over Naomi Osaka with singles victories over Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara to seal the win, before Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara clinched a consolation point for the visitors in the doubles.

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.