Spain to Compete in Billie Jean King Cup Without Badosa

Spain's new Billie Jean King Cup captain, Carla Suárez, announced on Thursday that Jessica Bouzas, Sara Sorribes, Cristina Bucsa, Nuria Párrizas, and Yvonne Caballé have been chosen to face the Czech Republic and Brazil in the group stage of the Billie Jean King Cup.

The notable absentee is Paula Badosa, who has been dealing with back issues in recent weeks and had to withdraw from the recent Indian Wells tournament, causing her to drop out of the world's top ten.

Carla Suárez's squad, her first since taking over the captaincy from Anabel Medina, includes Bouzas, currently ranked 57th, who will serve as the number one after reaching the third round at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2024, as well as advancing a round at the Australian Open in January.

"I won't ask her for anything I don't ask of the others. She knows I have great confidence in her and that she will debut, which I believe will motivate her greatly," said Carla Suárez about the Pontevedra native, who was already called up in last year's final phase elimination against Poland.

Bouzas will be joined by the doubles pair of medalists in Paris, Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa, by Párrizas, in case she needs to play singles, and by Cavallé, the surprise inclusion in the list, who has been called up thanks to her strong doubles results, reaching semifinals in Austin and winning the title in Cancun a few weeks ago.

"It's true that it will be challenging, but we have a competitive team. When you don't play at home, it's expected that the local crowd will support their team, in this case, the Czech Republic. I always say we must compete with the belief that we can win, and hopefully, we can advance," added the captain at an event held this Thursday in Madrid.

Spain will face the Czech Republic and Brazil in a group where the top-ranked team will advance to the final phase to be held in Shenzhen, China, starting November 8.

In the case of the Czech Republic, they will be without their top three players, Karolina Muchova, Barbora Krejcikova, and Marketa Vondrousova, and will have to rely on Linda Noskova, Marie Bouzkova, Sara Bejlek, Dominika Salkova, and Tereza Valentova, while Brazil will have their main players: Beatriz Haddad-Maia, Laura Pigossi, Luiza Fullana, Ana Candiotto, and Luisa Stefani.

The ties will begin on April 10 with a Brazil-Czech Republic match, followed by Spain-Brazil on the 11th and Czech Republic-Spain on the 12th. The matches, following a format of two singles and one doubles, will be played in the Czech Republic, in Ostrava, on indoor hard courts.