Some of the best names in the WTA tour will descend to Shenzhen this week to participate in Billie Jean King Cup finals.
Described as the “Tennis World Cup”, eight female teams and nearly 40 players should fight over six days between September 16 to 21 in order to raise the title and write their names in history books.
The title champions of Italy seek to reach the match for the third year in a row, but should face strong competition, with a solid American team and former powers of the BJK Cup Spain among these teams hoping to go to the end.
The BJK Cup is a rare chance for the main lights of sport to compete in a team environment, but they all still have individual jobs to do. Here we look at five players to keep an eye on the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center Arena.
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Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
Paolini’s career had been a sort of slow burner until 2024, when, at the age of 28, he ignited in a breathtaking way.
The diminutive Tuscan has reached its first three finals of the Grand Chelem – Wimbledon Singles and Singles and Doubles of the Open of France, claimed Olympic Gold and finished it by helping Italy to win the title of the BJK Cup for the first time since 2013.
The 29 -year -old man has since raised his first major crown, winning the French open doubles of 2025 in a rehearsal of his Olympic success alongside the BJK Cup teammate, Sara Errani, and has become a must in the top 10 of single and double WTA rankings.
Paolini won the BJK Cup Finals ‘Heart Award’ Last year, after winning four of her five games in Malaga and she hoped to shine again in Shenzhen while Italy hunts a third successive final appearance.
Jessica Pegula (USA)
With the compatriot Coco Gauff, the world n ° 3, not involved in the final, Pegula will be the best classified player at the BJK Cup and will run a powerful American team who has been looking to win his first title since 2017.
The 31-year-old has not yet won a major title, but reached the United States singles final in 2024 and failed a repeated performance this year, losing 4-6 6-4 6-4 to title champion Aryna Sabalenka in the last four.
Pegula also reached the final of the French double in double in 2022, alongside Gauff, and was classified as the double number one player in the world in 2023, so that it could constitute a double threat to the United States in the BJK Cup final.
Pegula withdrew from the United States team at the head of last year’s competition, where the record winners of 18 times were eliminated in the first round, but has a 5-1 victory record (simple) and 1-1 (double) in the competition.
Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Kazakhstan has reached three of the four BJK Cup finals – missing last year – since its debut made in 2022 and the influence of Rybakina and contributions to their rise in the world of tennis cannot be underestimated.
She made her great breakthrough three years ago when She won Wimbledon to become the first Kazakh player to lift a single homeless trophy.
The 26-year-old man, born in Moscow, also reached the Australian Open final in 2023 and climbed to a third career summit in the world ranking later that year when she strengthens.
The injuries and the disease have reduced her progress in 2024, forcing her to miss the Olympic Games, but she headed for the BJK Cup final in the top 10 WTA rankings and will seek to continue her formidable record in the competition, where she won nine of her 10 single games.
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Katie Boulter (Great Britain)
With the withdrawal of the British number one Emma Raducanu – the only major winner in the country since 1977 – the importance of Katie Boulter for Anne Keothavong’s team has become more and more acute.
Great Britain is still continuing its first title of the BJK Cup, finishing the finalists in 1967, 1971, 1972 and 1981, and they will hope that Boulter will be able to resume the form that saw it in the top 25 of the world at the end of last year.
The 29-year-old woman had a difficulty in 2025 on the WTA tour and abandoned the top 50 after losing in the first round of the US Open, but she and Raducanu had an influence on GB to reach the semi-finals of the BJK 2024 Cup in Malaga and could depend a lot on her performances in Shenzhen.
BOULTER, winner of the Heart Award at the 2019 BJK CUP, is the most experienced member of the team and has an impressive victory record of 16-6 of 18 links in the competition.
Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
Elina Svitolina has already been recognized for her performances in this year’s BJK Cup, winning the Heart Award in qualification after helping Ukraine to beat Australia and Colombia, and she will go to China as a star of her country.
Ukraine plays for the first time in the final of the BJK Cup for the first time in their history – after having appeared in the global group in 2010 and 2012 – and they will look at the experience and the class of the world number 13 Svitolina to guide them in their quest for a young girl’s title.
The 30 -year -old woman has not yet reached a final of the Grand Chelem and fell to the first obstacle during the recent US Open, but she was in the top three in the world ranking, won 18 titles in single WTA Tour and won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Ukraine is launching its BJK Cup finale campaign against Spain with Svitolina who will face the number 20 Paula Bodasa in a potentially critical rubber
