The home of American tennis will be the home of the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier in 2024. The USTA National Campus will host April's qualifying tie between the U.S. and Belgium.
It's the first time that the USTA National Campus, which opened in 2017, will host a tie in what's called the Women's World Cup of tennis, and USTA CEO and Executive Direct Lew Sherr called the opportunity to bring the event to Orlando "an incredible opportunity."
“Our goal is to deliver an unforgettable and inspiring experience for both the players and the fans, as the uniqueness and excitement of this competition set at our world-class facility makes for an unprecedented platform to elevate and grow the game," Sherr said.
In the Qualifier, the U.S. will bid for a spot in November's Billie Jean King Cup Finals, to be played in Seville, Spain for the second year in a row, when it takes the court in Orlando over the weekend of April 12-13. Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport will make her debut at captain for the tie, after the Hall of Famer was announced as the successor to Kathy Rinaldi in September.
Davenport will have until March to finalize which five American players she'll select to her team for the tie, where the U.S. and Belgium will meet for the eighth time in the six-decade history of the competition; the U.S. leads the overall head-to-head 5-2, but the two countries have not played in more than a decade.
The tie will begin Friday, April 12, at 6 p.m., with two singles matches, and continue on Saturday, April 13, at 2 p.m. with the reverse singles matches and a doubles match. An amended Saturday schedule is possible if one nation clinches victory in the third or fourth singles match.
The U.S. and Belgium are two of the 16 countries competing in the qualifying round that hope to book their place in Seville. 2023 champions Canada, runners-up Italy, wildcard Czech Republic, and Spain—as the host nation—are already qualified for the 12-team Finals.
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