The first Billie Jean King Cup is entering its crucial phase today at Prague’s O2 Arena. Not only is the name in honor of the American tennis icon new, the format has also changed. Blick explains how the women’s team competition, previously known as the Fed Cup, works.
From November 1st to 6th, all twelve teams that have qualified for the final round will compete against each other in four groups. The best line-up is Switzerland under the direction of Captain Heinz Günthardt with Belinda Bencic (WTA 10), Jil Teichmann (39), Viktorija Golubic (46) and Stefanie Vögele (120). On Tuesday they want to take the first of two hurdles to the semi-final qualification against Rainer Schüttler German team around Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic.
Group first in semifinals
In addition to Germany, Switzerland is drawn to host the Czech Republic in Group D – these games take place on Thursday. After the first four days with two round robin encounters each, consisting of two singles and one doubles, only the top four in the group reach the semi-finals. These will be played on Friday – if Switzerland were among them, it would face the winner of Group B (Australia, Belarus, Belgium).
The final on Saturday, November 6th, will be about the world championship title. The Swiss tennis ladies only qualified for one in 1998. Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder lost 3-2 against Spain.
Program for the 2021 finals in Prague:
Tuesday, not before 5 p.m .: Germany – Switzerland.
Thursday, not before 5 p.m .: Switzerland – Czech Republic.
On Friday, not before 5 p.m .: semi-finals of winners groups B and D.
Saturday, from 4 p.m .: Final
The Swiss matches live on SRF 2, RTS 2 and RSI 2.