BJK Cup: Kenya land top seeds Morocco, neigbours Uganda following tournament draw

Hosts of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Kenya will have to overcome the challenge posed by top seeds Morocco and five other countries if they are to have any chance of gaining promotion to the Euro/Africa Group II tournament reserved for the winners of the week long competition to be played from 12-17 June at Nairobi Club.

In the tournament draw conducted on Sunday, Kenya were grouped against Morocco (1), neighbours Uganda (10), Nigeria (6), Botswana (3) and Namibia (8) in Pool A.

Pool B was led by second seeded Tunisia who will be favourites against Ghana (4), Burundi (5), Zimbabwe (7), Mauritius (9) and Seychelles (12).

Winners of the two pools will meet in the finals to decide who gets the single ticket for promotion with the last team of the twelve getting relegated.

Kenya, who will be represented by 2022 Wimbledon Girls’ Doubles champion Angella Okutoyi, her twin sister Roselida Asumwa, Alicia Owegi and Cynthia Wanjala, made their Billie Jean King Cup debut in 1991 and played on and off until 2005. They returned to the competition in 2012.

BJK Cup: Team rosters revealed ahead of continental showdown in Nairobi

To date, Kenya have recorded three wins in the tournament – against Cyprus in 1995 and 2005 and against Iceland in 2017.

Having finished in eleventh position in the 2022 edition, Kenya will be hoping to tap into the experience of Okutoyi, Owegi and Asumwa who all moved to the USA where they have been playing competitive tennis tournaments.

The Billie Jean King Cup, referred to as the World Cup of Tennis, is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The name was changed to the Fed Cup in 1995 and changed again in September 2020 in honor of former World No. 1 Billie Jean King.

It is the world's largest annual women's international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.

Pool A – Morocco, Botswana, Nigeria, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya

Pool B – Tunisia, Ghana, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles