On the clay of the Corporación Recreativa de Tennis & Golf Club de Cúcuta, the Colombian women’s tennis team will begin its journey in the international competition of nations of the discipline.
Fabiola Zuluaga, captain of the Colombian national team, prepared what will be the tie that will measure her players with representatives from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Guatemala and Bolivia.
“The locality is very important, since the six teams are very even (…) Regarding the ranking, two or three selected seem to be above the rest (…) Argentina is definitely the team to beat if it comes with its best players”, Fabiola commented in an interview with the organization of the tournament.
It is important to note that Colombia will play the round-robin phase in search of one of the two places in the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs. However, in case of occupying one of the last two slots in the group, will be relegated to Grupo América II.
Among the players that make up the women’s national tennis team are Yuliana Lizarazo, María Fernanda Herazo, María Paulina Pérez, Emiliana Arango and Yuliana Monroy.
María Camila Osorio, currently the best female racket player in the country, will not be able to be part of Team Colombia due to injury.
Osorio, current 101 in the women’s ranking, suffered a physical problem in her last participation in the Monterrey tournament that later forced her to withdraw from the WTA 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, both in the United States. For this same reason, she will not be able to play the Colsanitas Cup (WTA 250 in Bogotá) and the Billie Jean King Cup series.
“I am following the recommendations of my team and this was the decision that was made. Now I am in the process of recovering as soon as possible to return to the courts”, were the words of the main national tennis player.
Yesterday the matches of the week in Group I Americas of the Billie Jean King Cup were defined.
Colombia, which will try to reach the Play-off for the first time since 2008, will face Bolivia today in what will be the first duel between the two since 2016 (a series led by Colombia 3-1). The first day will also have the duels Argentina vs. Guatemala and Chile vs. Peru simultaneously.
It is worth remembering that the competition format is a single round robin where everyone faces off: the first two in the group will qualify for the Play-offs, while the last two will be relegated to Group II Americas. Each of the series will be played over three games (two singles and one doubles), which will be played to the best of three sets. All confrontations will start every day at 10:00 am
The Billie Jean King Cup is the top women’s team tennis competition that was first held in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation. However, this name has been adopted since 2020 since it was previously known as the Fed Cup (or Federation Cup in Spanish). Why did the change occur?
The main motivation for the ITF to adapt the name was seeking to align with a global icon who has dedicated herself to fighting injustice, inequality and discrimination in all its forms: Billie Jean King.
Born in California in 1943, she won the first of her 12 Grand Slam titles in 1966 and became world number one in 1967. In addition, she collected 129 crowns in her entire career and achieved an impressive 695 victories.
But beyond her success on the courts, Billie Jean was characterized as a tireless activist for women’s rights, principles that embody the ethics of this competition. That’s why the tournament’s bold makeover not only recognizes what this athlete has done in history, but also exposes her as a role model for generations to come.
Before the representative of Bolivia, Colombia begins today its participation in the Billie Jean Cupo, a tournament that is based in Cúcuta.