LONDON (AP) — U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was left off the American team for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Monday, while second-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland is skipping the event for the second year in a row.
Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the two highest-ranked American players, were both absent from the U.S. team announced Monday. Madison Keys, Sofia Kenin, Danielle Collins, Sloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend will play for the U.S. at the Nov. 7-12 event in Seville, Spain.
The biggest team competition in women's tennis starts only two days after the end of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, which will feature the top eight players on the tour — including Gauff, Pegula and Swiatek.
Swiatek, who was then ranked No. 1, skipped last year's Billie Jean King Cup in Glasgow, Scotland, because of a similar scheduling situation. She said then that the “situation is not safe for our health" when players have to travel so far for the 12-team event — which is organized by the International Tennis Federation — right after the WTA Finals. She was left off the Poland team on Monday.
Gauff announced Sunday she was withdrawing from this week's Zhengzhou Open tournament in China because of a shoulder injury that bothered her during a loss to Swiatek at the China Open semifinals last week. Swiatek won that tournament on Sunday for her fifth title of the year.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
