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Russia's tennis teams will be replaced by Serbia in the Davis Cup and Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced. The men's and women's teams from Russia will not be able to defend their titles that they won in both team competitions in 2021.
The ITF, ATP and WTA recently took action against Russian and Belarusian players in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Players from the two nations will be allowed to play on the men's and women's tours and at Grand Slam events, but not under the name or flag of their respective countries "until further notice."
The ITF announced the cancelation of all their events in Russia and Belarus, as well as the suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and Belarus Tennis Federation (BTF) from team competitions. The WTA and ATP also announced their decision to suspend the WTA/ATP combined event in Moscow.
In a press release, the ITF confirmed the process for replacing the Russian teams in the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup this year. As the defending champions, RTF qualified automatically for both the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals and the 2022 Davis Cup Finals.
The RTF teams have been replaced by Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and Serbia in the Davis Cup Finals. This is because the two nations were the highest-ranked losing semi-finalists in the 2021 edition of the women's and men's team competitions.
Australia no longer need to compete in their qualifier scheduled for 15-16 April 2022. Their opponents, Slovakia, will receive a bye and also advance directly to the finals.
Belarus were also due to compete in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers on 15-16 April 2022. However, their scheduled opponents, Belgium, will receive a walkover and advance directly to the finals.
Serbia had been awarded a wildcard for the 2022 Davis Cup Finals, but the ITF will now announce a replacement wildcard nation (selected from the 12 losing nations from the 2022 qualifiers, which were played on 4-5 March 2022).
Belarus were due to play in the World Group I play-offs on 4-5 March 2022. Their opponent, Mexico, received a walkover and will compete in World Group I in September.
Russia achieved success in Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, ATP Cup and the Olympics in 2021
The Russian Tennis Federation's men's team defeated Croatia in December to claim the 2021 Davis Cup title and cap off a very successful year for Russian tennis. World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev led Russia to their third title in the event and first triumph since 2006. The RTF men's squad also won the ATP Cup for the first time in January 2021.
The women's team defeated Switzerland to win the Billie Jean King Cup title in November. It was Russia's fifth title in the competition and first since 2008. The nation also secured three medals - one gold and two silvers - for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Karen Khachanov earned silver in the men's singles, losing to Alexander Zverev in the gold medal match. Meanwhile, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev beat Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in an all-Russian mixed doubles gold medal match.
