Tennis
Bengaluru chosen to host the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup play-offs
This is a historic moment for India as it's the first time the prestigious play-offs will be held on Indian soil.
Ankita Raina (Left) and Prarthana Thombare in action at Billie Jean King Cup 2025. (Photo credit: AITA)
In a historic first, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) will host the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup Playoffs in Bengaluru at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium.
The Playoffs will feature 21 nations split into seven groups of three teams each. In a unique format, every group tie will be hosted by a nation and the venues were formally announced following a draw held today in London.
The Playoffs are scheduled to begin from 14th November 2025, with Bengaluru set to host on 14th, 15th and 16th November – this will be the first time ever that the Billie Jean King Cup Playoffs will be held on Indian soil.
India recently qualified for the Playoffs, only for the second time in its history, following a spectacular performance in the Asia/ Oceania Group I tie held in Pune. India qualified along with New Zealand for the playoff, following its 2-1 win over Korea. Both New Zealand and India had four wins each in the six-team competition. The only other time India qualified for the playoffs was in April 2021 when they played in Latvia, which saw Jelena Ostapenko lead her team to a 3-1 victory over India.
KSLTA has been at the forefront of hosting international tennis events and have been a host to Davis Cup ties, ATP World Doubles Championships, WTA Tour Events, ITF Women’s $100K, ATP Challengers, ITF World Tennis Tour events and this would also be a first for KSLTA to host the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup. In their endeavour to provide invaluable exposure to young players and fans across the country, the leadership at KSLTA bid to host the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs when India qualified last month.
India are in group G along with Slovenia and the Netherlands. The five-member Indian team that featured in the qualifiers included Ankita Raina (rank 292), Sahaja Yamalapalli (rank 301), Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (rank 313) who is current India No.1, Vaidehi Chaudhari (rank 405) and Prarthana Thombare, the top-ranked Indian doubles player ranked no.136.
In other groups, Canada, Mexico and Denmark will feature in group A, and group B includes Poland, New Zealand and Romania while group C features Slovakia, Switzerland and Argentina. Group D will have Czechia, Colombia and Croatia, group E will have Australia, Portugal and Brazil. Germany, Belgium and Turkiye are in group F.
