Coco Gauff Left Out of U.S.A.’s Billie Jean King Cup Squad for 2025 Finals

World No. 2 Coco Gauff was surprisingly excluded from the USA team that will compete in this year’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals. With just two months to the start of the 2025 Finals, which will be held on the indoor hard courts of Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, the eight participating nations have nominated their squad members.

The U.S.A. is the most successful nation in this competition, winning the women’s flagship team tournament a record 18 times and finishing runners-up 12 times. Last year, the Americans were considered pre-tournament favorites, but withdrawals of Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Emma Navarro severely dented their hopes. They were narrowly beaten by eventual finalists Slovakia in the knock-out phase in Malaga.

This season, the U.S.A. is led by Lindsay Davenport, who replaced Kathy Rinaldi as team captain. Davenport, a three-time BJK Cup champion herself, oversaw successful qualifying ties against Slovakia and Denmark in Bratislava in mid-April to secure their spot in the 2025 Finals.

Gauff misses out, but Davenport names a strong-looking team

It’s unclear whether this was a personal decision from Gauff, given the complicated tennis calendar. The Tour never stops, with so many tournaments and little rest time in the second half of the season. But Gauff’s absence is unlikely to be a major setback, with the USA possessing strength in depth.

Davenport has recalled Hailey Baptiste, who stepped up by winning two singles matches in April’s qualifiers. Taylor Townsend is nominated for her fourth straight Finals. She is an experienced doubles player who won her second Grand Slam doubles title at this year’s Australian Open.

Jessica Pegula has also been selected. She has a 5-1 record in BJK Cup singles matches and last played in 2024, when she helped her country qualify at the expense of Belgium.

Australiann Open singles champion Madison Keys will also return to the team. She made her BJK Cup debut in 2014 and last played in it three years ago.

And completing the team is Emma Navarro. The 24-year-old won her biggest WTA title in Merida earlier this year and has been in and out of the Top 10. Navarro won her only singles match in this competition in the tie against Belgium last season.

The USA will face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Thursday, September 18th.