Collins, Pegula, Stephens Lead Team USA for BJK Cup
Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens, Danielle Collins and Jessica Pegula will lead Team USA in its quest of the Billie Jean King Cup.The USTA and United States Billie Jean King Cup Captain Kathy Rinaldi today announced that Pegula, Collins, Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe and Caroline Dolehide will represent the United States in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals November 1st-6th at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
The six-day Finals will feature 12 teams drawn into four groups to compete in a round-robin format, with the Group winners advancing to the knockout-style semifinals. The U.S. was drawn into Group C and will play Slovakia on Tues., Nov. 2, and Spain, on Weds., Nov. 3, both on Centre Court and not before 5 p.m. local time. Each tie will be a best-of-three competition with two singles matches and one doubles match. The full field, schedule and ticketing information is available at billiejeankingcup.com.The United States has won a record 18 Billie Jean King Cup championships when the event was branded as Fed Cup.Title 19 is within their grasp 🇺🇸This formidable five will lead out USA#BJKCup pic.twitter.com/gvtznCRQXB
— Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) October 4, 2021
Pegula, 27, is ranked No. 24 and is having a breakout year. She’s won 36 matches on tour and reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. She represented the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympic games and made her Billie Jean King Cup debut in the 2019 World Group Playoff vs. Switzerland.Collins, 27, is ranked No 25 and won her first two WTA singles titles this summer in Palermo and San Jose amid a 12-match win streak. She was part of the team that competed in the 2018 Final in Prague vs. the Czech Republic and vs. Australia in the 2019 Quarterfinals.Stephens, 28, is ranked No. 73. The 2017 US Open champion has been ranked as high as No. 3 and was a part of the U.S. team that won the Billie Jean King Cup championship in 2017. She’s won her last four BJK Cup singles matches, two each in the 2018 Semifinals and the 2019 Playoff.Vandeweghe, 29, is ranked No. 145 and was ranked as high as No. 9 in 2018. She reached the semifinals of both the Australian Open and US Open in 2017, a year in which she won six singles and two doubles matches across three ties to lead the U.S. to the Billie Jean King Cup title.Dolehide, 23, is ranked No. 201 in singles and No. 29 in doubles. She won her first WTA doubles title this year and reached her third final of the year last week in Chicago with Vandeweghe. She also won the doubles gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, and will be making her Billie Jean King Cup debut.Billie Jean King Cup is the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with approximately 100 nations taking part each year. The U.S. holds an overall 153-38 record in Billie Jean King Cup competition. For more information, including access to player and historical records, visit billiejeankingcup.com.Photo credit: Brandon Malone/Getty]]>
