ITF

ITF World Winter 2020 17 BILLIE JEAN KING CUP "It is an honour to have the women's world cup of tennis carry my name and it is a responsibility I will not take lightly. Our job is to share this vision with future generations of young girls, because if you can see it, you can be it. When I attended the draw for the Finals in Budapest in February, I had three wishes for this event. First, I really want us to be known worldwide: I want every single person in this world to know that the Billie Jean King Cup is the women's world cup of tennis. Second, I want us to be appreciated and followed worldwide: I really want people to get behind this and I want us to be huge. Third, I really want to bring the people of the world closer to equality, inclusion, diversity and freedom. As a competition, we are in a unique position as the world's largest annual sporting event for women, while it is one of the few tennis events where players truly get to represent their country, which is an amazing experience. I wish everyone could feel the sense of pride when they call the score and they say your nation rather than your name. I remember the first time I heard the umpire say, 'Game, United States of America'. The sensation of responsibility and pressure is like nothing else. It's how you handle it, how you use the opportunity of representing your country when you're playing – sometimes it can help you come through when you're almost down and out. There were 16 teams at the first Federation Cup in 1963. In 2020, we had 116 teams enter the competition and I would like to see even more. Davis Cup featured 142 teams last year, while 144 teams entered qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. I want us to be No. 1, just as women's tennis is the No. 1 in women's sports. In Forbes' 2020 list of richest female athletes, for instance, nine of the top 10 are tennis players. We are a leader in terms of athlete activism as well and I would like us to continue that. I want Billie Jean King Cup to lead on change and make the world a better place. To all of you – to the players, captains, teams and to fans worldwide – my message is simple: be bold. Tennis is unique, a sport for both teams and individuals. It demands that we take responsibility and work together to get where we want to go. Let's be bold and make history." "IT HAS ALWAYS MEANT A LOT BUT IT WILL MEAN A LOT MORE NOW BECAUSE IT IS NAMED AFTER BILLIE JEAN KING." NAOMI OSAKA 'AN HONOUR – AND AN OPPORTUNITY': BILLIE JEAN KING Microsoft will support the ITF's value of innovation by providing the latest technology and data analytics at the rebranded Billie Jean King Cup. The technology collaboration, developed between Microsoft, ITF and coaching experts like King herself, means that athletes and coaches at the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Finals will be given real- time access to in-match insights, enabling them to adjust match strategy and improve player performance. The new dashboard uses the Azure cloud platform to process and analyse key elements of the game like player movement, ball, shot and scoring data. Available courtside on Microsoft Surface tablets for the first time at the inaugural Billie Kean King Cup Finals in Budapest in April, the dashboard will display all relevant information in a user-friendly way, allowing players and coaches to quickly uncover new insights on their opponents. The new dashboard will analyse real-time data on player movement and shots, ball flight and speed – data generated by the ball-tracking cameras and 3D-radar systems used at pro tennis events. There are 17 Microsoft Azure services powering the data repository and data filtering inside the dashboard, which offers players and coaches a complete in-the-moment plan for how to win their match. Further information about Billie Jean King Cup, including the 2021 schedule of ties at all levels of the competition, is available here MICROSOFT'S GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY Above Exci ng new technology will be on show at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in 2021

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