World No. 2 Iga Swiatek will join Poland’s squad for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after initially planning to miss the event, which will take place from November 13-20 November in Malaga, Spain.
Swiatek was left out of the Poland squad when the 12 teams in the event announced their line-ups on Monday September 16, but she has since missed tournaments in Beijing and Wuhan, China while replacing coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette. Swiatek will thus be fresher than expected for the event, which immediately follows the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia which run from November 2 until November 9.
“See you in Malaga! I’m happy to announce that I will play in the BJKC Finals,” Swiatek wrote on X, Tuesday 22 October.
“I’m glad that I’ll play for my country and proudly represent Poland.”
In a 2023 Instagram post announcing her decision to skip the BJK Cup, Swiatek described having to travel from Cancun, Mexico to Glasgow, Scotland in a 12-hour window as “not safe for our health.” She won that year’s WTA Finals, thrashing Jessica Pegula in the final.
Swiatek is already qualified for this year’s event in Saudi Arabia alongside world No. 3 Coco Gauff, who will not represent the United States.
U.S. Open finalist Pegula, who rose to No. 5 in the ranking points ‘race’ to the Tour Finals by reaching the final in New York and subsequently qualified, will lead Team USA; Emma Navarro, who narrowly missed out on WTA Finals qualification, is not in the squad.
Barbora Krejcikova, the Wimbledon champion, will not represent the Czech Republic. Krejcikova is eligible for a place in Saudi Arabia thanks to her winning the third major of the year, even though she did not finish inside the top eight players by ranking points accrued in 2024.
Four-time major winner and former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka initially headlined Japan’s squad, but has since withdrawn with an injury sustained against Gauff at the China Open in Beijing. 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu representing Canada alongside 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez. Emma Raducanu, who beat Fernandez to win that U.S. Open title, is planning to play for Great Britain, while two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini is slated to represent Italy alongside Sara Errani, fresh from the pair winning the Paris 2024 Olympic gold in women’s doubles. Another U.S. Open semifinalist, Karolina Muchova, will represent the Czech Republic.
A resurgent Paula Badosa, a former world No. 2, leads Spain’s team, Olympic semifinalist Anna Karolina Schmiedlova will play for Slovakia, Magdalena Fręch will represent Poland —fresh off her first WTA Tour title in Guadalajara — Mexico and Olivia Gadecki, beaten finalist there, will play for Australia.
Twelve teams are participating in total: 2023 winners Canada and runners-up Italy; Spain as hosts and wildcard entry the Czech Republic. The other eight teams — Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the USA — qualified earlier this year.
The BJK Cup Finals will cross over with the Davis Cup Finals, also to be held in Malaga, between 19 and 24 November.
Leylah Fernandez
Marina Stakusic
Rebecca Marino
Bianca Andreescu
Gabriela Dabrowski
Captain: Heidi El Tabakh
Paula Badosa Gibert
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
Cristina Bucsa
Nuria Parrizas Diaz
Sara Sorribes Tormo
Captain: Anabel Medina Garrigues
Olivia Gadecki
Daria Saville
Ajla Tomljanovic
Ellen Perez
Captain: Samantha Stosur
Katie Boulter
Emma Raducanu
Harriet Dart
Heather Watson
Olivia Nicholls
Captain: Anne Keothavong
Moyuka Uchijima
Nao Hibino
Eri Hozumi
Shuko Aoyama
Captain: Ai Sugiyama
Iga Swiatek
Magdalena Fręch
Magda Linette
Maja Chwalińska
Katarzyna Kawa
Captain: Dawid Celt
Jaqueline Adina Cristian
Ana Bogdan
Elena Gabriela Ruse
Alexia Anca Todoni
Monica Niculescu
Captain: Horia Tecau
Jessica Pegula
Danielle Collins
Caroline Dolehide
Taylor Townsend
Peyton Stearns
Captain: Lindsay Davenport
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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