King's Fed Cup Makes Women's History With Latest Announcement

Having been launched back in 1963 as the Federation Cup as the International Tennis Federation (ITF) celebrated its 50th anniversary, the self-styled women's world cup of tennis was further rebranded in September 2020 to honor the career achievements (both on and off the tennis courts) of the legendary Billie Jean King.

Having originally started as a week-long knockout tournament, since 1995 it has morphed into a home and away country team competition and this years edition is being held in Glasgow and avid watchers will see a new addition when it comes to the tournament winners.

Everyone is more than used to the winner of golf's Masters receiving an iconic green jacket to mark their triumph, and for the very first time ever, the winning team out of the 12 competing nations will receive their own 'Billie Blue' jacket, which has been designed by New York based fashion brand Tony Burch. In fact, they will be the first female professional athletes to receive a jacket as recognition of sporting success.

The iconic blue color is the same blue that King sported throughout her playing career, including the vividly memorable, iconic and groundbreaking 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match where King roundly defeated Bobby Riggs over three sets - a match reportedly watched by over 50 million Americans, 90 million in total worldwide and despite their being other similar battles between other tennis stars of their day, this was the one considered by many to being pivotal in changing the public acceptance of women's tennis given some of the sound bites and misogyny that surrounded the build-up.

Speaking in a statement to confirm the news of the jacket introduction, the former world No 1 and winner of 39 major tennis titles explained.

"I can't wait for the winning team to put on the jacket. I love the design, it's just stunning. I look at that jacket and just think, 'yeah, that's got a lot of meaning to it'. It's more than a jacket. It's got love, kindness, and design and thought that has gone into it. It represents ambition, gender equality and love. It's making history. And winning it needs to be earned, so no one has worn one yet."

"I am in awe of Billie Jean. What she means to young women is hard to describe. I'm really excited about the winner's jackets. I thought about those green jackets they give men at the Masters and I wanted to make something as iconic for world champion women athletes."

The BJK Cup Finals, as previously referenced, will take place in Glasgow, Scotland in the week commencing November 8, culminating on November 13 and this years tournament will be contested between the following nations: United States, Canada, Britain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Slovakia and Belgium. Many sportsbooks across the states set odds on the winner, check out this BetRivers NY offer to find out how you can improve the odds.

There are some clearly talented players in those ranks and naturally a few countries stand out a bit more than others with the available potential of some of the younger stars on the circuit, but one thing is for sure, tennis fans are in for some great battles in the coming week.