The 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers are set to happen this weekend, as 18 nations battle it out on April 14 and 15 for a spot within the finals. 

Format, draws and teams: Everything you need to know about Billie Jean King Cup

The 9 successful groups from the Qualifiers will be a part of the reigning champions Switzerland and runners-up Australia within the finals, which can happen from Nov. 7-12. One extra wild-card workforce can even be introduced. Observe all of the motion on the Billie Jean Cup web site here.

With the Hologic WTA Tour taking the week off, listed here are the 5 gamers to look at this weekend as the game’s most historic nationwide competitors will get underway:

Jessica Pegula (USA)

The World No.3 leads a robust squad for No.5-seeded Group USA, which can host Austria in Delray Seashore, Florida. Coming off back-to-back semifinal runs in Miami and Charleston, Pegula goes into the Billie Jean King Cup main the Hologic WTA Tour with 22 wins this season. 

Pegula and World No.6 Coco Gauff have been tapped to shoulder the singles load in opposition to Austria. Gauff will open the tie on Friday in opposition to No.78 Julia Grabher, with Pegula following in opposition to No.153 Sinja Kraus. The duo will comply with up on Saturday with the reverse singles. 

Caroline Garcia (FRA)

The reigning WTA Finals champion Garcia has loved a quietly stable begin to the season, having already made two finals in Lyon and Monterrey. However the 29-year-old Frenchwoman has by no means did not summon her finest when taking part in for her nation. 

Alongside Alizé Cornet, Garcia leads No.3-seeded France in opposition to final 12 months’s Cinderella squad, Nice Britain. The World No.5 will open the tie in opposition to No.154 Katie Boulter, with No.70 Cornet to face No.138 Harriet Dart. After falling on the qualifying stage final 12 months, France is able to proper its wrongs.

“We’re actually on a mission this 12 months,” Cornet stated. “We’re actually motivated to get to the finals as a result of we missed it final 12 months very a lot. We’re not going to let go of a single level, we’ll attempt to be intense from begin to end.”

Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)

The 2021 French Open champion and World No.12 Krejcikova will get her first style of the clay this season when she leads the dynastic Czech Republic in opposition to Ukraine. With Ukraine unable to host the tie as a result of ongoing warfare, the tie can be performed on outside clay in Antalya, Turkey.

Krejcikova tops a robust Czech squad that features the resurgent Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova, in addition to rising teenage star Linda Noskova. Vondrousova kicks off the tie in opposition to Ukraine’s No.1 Marta Kostyuk, with Krejcikova following in opposition to Katarina Zavatska. Krejcikova is bidding for her first singles win at Billie Jean King Cup.

“It is positively nonetheless a really new factor for me however I feel I’ve gained a variety of expertise because the final time I performed in 2021,” Krejcikova stated. “I am actually trying ahead to main the workforce and I hope the younger ladies that we’ve got right here can be taught slightly bit extra and lead the workforce sooner or later.”

Magda Linette (POL)

The Australian Open semifinalist has rediscovered the shape that fueled her shock run in January, coming off back-to-back Spherical of 16 showings in Miami and Charleston. With World No.1 Iga Swiatek pressured to overlook the tie with an harm, the stress now falls to Linette to guide the cost in opposition to a Kazakhstan workforce led by Indian Wells champion and World No.7 Elena Rybakina. 

Enjoying on an indoor clay court docket in Astana, Linette will face Yulia Putintseva on Friday and Rybakina on Saturday. Two wins for Linette would give Poland, at minimal, an opportunity to determine the tie in doubles.

Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)

Brazil could be the unseeded workforce once they tackle No.7 Germany on the Porsche Enviornment in Stuttgart, however Beatriz Haddad Maia’s squad has a robust probability to tug off the upset. No.14 Haddad Maia is the one Prime 60 singles participant chosen for the tie and, if the tie goes to a deciding doubles, Luisa Stefani is able to go.

“The No.1 for Brazil is an unimaginable participant and will be good for 3 factors, so our job is to not permit her to make these factors,” German captain Rainer Schuettler stated.

Haddad Maia will face Anna-Lena Friedsam on Friday. Tatjana Maria, recent off her title protection in Bogota final weekend, will lead the German aspect in singles.