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The gang's all here: Czech Billie Jean King Cup team pokes fun at absent players

With three of their five players still in Cancun, the remaining members nonetheless made sure they're included in preparations.

ByBaseline Staff

Published Nov 04, 2023

We need reinforcements! With three of the five members of the Czech Billie Jean King Cup Finals team still competing at the WTA Finals Friday, the remaining members nonetheless made sure they were included in the preparations.

Czech captain Petr Pala and two of his players, Marie Bouzkova and Linda Noskova, had their first training session in Seville, Spain, where they were joined by Barbora Krejcikova, Katerina Siniakova and Marketa Vondrosuova ... sort of. You see, instead of being there in the flesh, the Grand Slam champions were stationed courtside as life-sized cardboard cutouts.

"We are complete," the Czech tennis federation commented on a photo of the group on Instagram, "and we don't even need AI for this magic."

While the execution was LOL-worthy, the sentiment behind it is no laughing matter. The quick turnaround between the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup Finals has been a source of contention for players in each of the last two years, including from Billie Jean King herself. The Czechs' fellow Cancun qualifiers Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula elected to skip the Finals this year.

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The Czechs were drawn in the same round-robin group as defending champion Switzerland and perennial title favorite United States, but all three teams have been affected by a late roster shakeups ahead of the Tuesday's first day of the Finals. Belinda Bencic, the Swiss No. 1, announced her pregnancy Friday (though the world No. 14 is in Seville with the team), while Madison Keys withdrew from the U.S. team earlier in the week and was replaced by Peyton Stearns.

The top team in each of the four groups in Seville will advance to the knockout rounds for the right to play for the Billie Jean King Cup.