World No.2 Iga Swiatek won the 2023 French Open title at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, and American Coco Gauff won the US Open in New York the same year. However, none of them will be able to taste victory at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November because they chose to skip the competition, which begins in Seville just two days after the conclusion of this year’s WTA finals in Mexico. In the most recent Billie Jean King Cup Finals announcement, American tennis phenom Coco Gauff is missing from the American team, while Poland’s Iga Swiatek has opted out for the second year in a row.
The two highest-ranked American players, Gauff and Jessica Pegula were both absent from the U.S. roster released on Monday. Madison Keys, Sofia Kenin, Danielle Collins, Sloane Stephens, and Taylor Townsend will compete for the United States from November 7 to 12 in Seville, Spain.
The WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, which will include the top eight players on the tour including Gauff, Pegula, and Swiatek concludes only two days before the biggest team competition in women’s tennis. The WTA Finals will conclude on Sunday, November 5 in Cancun, with the 12-team Billie Jean King Cup finals beginning on Tuesday, November 7 in Seville.
Swiatek also missed last year’s Billie Jean King Cup finals in Glasgow because the 2022 WTA Finals were set to end one day sooner in Texas. I’m disappointed that tennis’ governing bodies did not come to an agreement on something as basic as the calendar of tournaments, giving us only one day to travel through the globe and changing the time zone, the Pole star stated a year ago. This situation is hazardous to our health and could result in injury, she added.
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic intend to compete in both events. Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic were also in the race to host the WTA Finals, which feature the year’s top eight singles players and doubles teams. Caroline Garcia, Madison Keys, and Belinda Bencic, representing the defending champions Switzerland are among those competing in Seville.
Earlier on Sunday, Gauff confirmed her withdrawal from this week’s Zhengzhou Open tournament in China due to a shoulder injury suffered during a loss to Swiatek in the China Open quarterfinals last week.
