The "Billie Jean King" Tennis Cup match (former Federation Cup - that is the women's team world championship), between Ukraine and Japan will be held on April 16-17 in Chernomorsk (Odessa region).
The participation of the second racket of the world, the Odessa champion Elina Svitolina, is expected. This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation (FTU).
The game was supposed to take place last year. According to the results of the draw, the right to host the match went to Japan. However, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, and the meeting was postponed to April 2021. When the Ukrainian team had already begun to prepare for a not very comfortable trip (mid-April fits perfectly into the European clay series, but not into the Asian one), it became known that Japan, on the eve of the Olympics, almost completely closed its borders to foreigners, sportsmen included, which never happened before.
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation, realising the situation, at the end of last year informed the International Tennis Federation (ITF) of its readiness to take over the holding of the match.
There was less and less time to organise the event. There was a likelihood of postponing this single World Group playoff confrontation to November. However, the parties managed to reach an agreement. FTU has undertaken to hold the match on its territory as soon as possible.
International Tennis Federation
Tennis players will meet on the clay courts of the Black Sea Elite Tennis Club. The presence of spectators is preliminarily planned, albeit in a limited number - if additional restrictions are not introduced before the start of the match in Ukraine. There will also be a live TV broadcast.
The leader of the Ukrainian national team is Odessa tennis player Elina Svitolina. As for the Japanese, according to the Odessa regional branch of the National Olympic Committee, the arrival of the second racket of the world, Naomi Osaka, who recently won the Australian Open, is expected.
Elite tennis club, founded in 2004, is considered one of the best tennis bases in Ukraine. It has seven outdoor and two indoor tennis courts that meet all the requirements of the ITF. Among them - six courts with a special Red Clay coating and a tournament court with stands for almost 600 spectators. The clay court surface was created using Roland Garros technology. In the nearest future the club plans to open three more courts with charov surface.
The Billie Jean King Cup is the largest international team competition in women's tennis. The tournament is organized by the International Tennis Federation. Until 2020, it was called the Federation Cup, in September it was renamed in honour of American tennis player Billie Jean King.
In the men's tournament, a similar championship is called the Davis Cup.
