India announce squad for 2025 Billie Jean King Cup in Pune

Modified Mar 02, 2025 20:49 GMT

2023 ITF World Tennis Tour - W100 Tokyo - Source: Getty

Vishal Uppal will lead India’s five-member squad for the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Asia-Oceania group-1 tennis tournament from April 7 at Pune’s Deccan Gymkhana.

Ankita Raina, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaidehi Chaudhari, and Prarthana Thombare are the members of the team to be captained by Uppal.

Back in March 2023, Shalini Thakur replaced Uppal as captain. However, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) decided to bring Uppal back after two years. Before the tournament, a training camp will take place on April 2, where Rutuja Bhosale and Vaishnavi Adkar will also be present.

“The team has been selected based on rankings, recent performances and player availability,” Anil Dhupar, the secretary general of the AITA, was quoted as saying in a release on Saturday, March 1.

Among the participants, the focus will be on Ankita, India’s highest-ranked player at No.292 on the WTA tour. Raina has also taken part in the qualifying rounds of all four Grand Slams, including the Australian Open, French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon.

India also included the talented Maaya Rajeshwaran in reserves for the upcoming championship. The 15-year-old recently advanced to the semi-finals of the Mumbai Open WTA 125 series, where she defeated higher-ranked players.

On the back of her incredible performance, she also broke into the top 650 of the rankings. Moreover, she became the youngest player in the top 700 of the WTA rankings. Recently, Maaya trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy under the watchful eyes of the legendary Rafael Nadal, who won 22 Grand Slam titles, including 14 titles at Roland Garros.

In the Billie Jean King Cup, India will compete with Thailand, New Zealand, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The top two teams will advance to the playoff, while the bottom two teams will be demoted to Group 2.