Israel and USA, two of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup’s most enduring nations, get the action underway on Centre Court on Monday when the 2021 edition of the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event begins at the Baia di Conte Resort in Alghero, Sardinia.

Watch Monday's Centre Court action here
Watch Monday's Court 1 action here

With 67 years of participation between them in the World Team Cup men’s event, Israel and USA meet in one of 15 round-robin contests scheduled for Monday’s opening day of play across the men’s, women’s and quad competitions. The junior event starts on Tuesday.

With victories in the first seven World Team Cups between 1985 and 1991 and subsequent wins in 1995 and 1997, USA still holds the record for most men’s titles. However, before any thoughts of finishing positions for this year can be entertained, the initial task is to try and secure the best possible finish in round-robin Pool 2, which will see Israel and USA also face second seeds Spain and Chile.

Pool 1 will feature just three nations after 2019 champions Great Britain withdrew on the eve of this year’s draw, with former champions and top seeds the Netherlands taking on former runners-up Poland before both team face Austria.

France have the opportunity to equal USA’s record of nine men’s titles this year. After registering their eighth victory in 2017, when the World Team Cup was first held in Sardinia, the French team open their latest campaign against Sri Lanka before both teams go on to play Brazil and Belgium in their remaining pool contests.

Third seeds Argentina face host nation Italy in Monday’s second scheduled Centre Court match-up as Argentina, men’s semi-finalists for the first time in 2019, open their bid for a first World Team Cup medal.

Canada to face USA as quad event begins

North American neighbours Canada and second seeds USA face each other in an intriguing match-up as the two round-robin pools start in the quad event.

The Pool 2 contest potentially pits David Wagner against Rob Shaw for the first time since Shaw claimed his first win over Wagner in eight matches to claim to the 2019 Parapan American Games quad singles gold medal.

The other Pool 2 match-up will see third seeds Japan start their bid for back-to-back World Team Cup quad titles with a contest against Brazil, who were runners-up to the Netherlands at the World Team Cup Qualification event in Portugal in May.

The Netherlands secured their only previous quad title on Italian soil in 2008, but the sparkling form currently being enjoyed by Tokyo 2020 and US Open doubles champions Sam Schroder and Niels Vink makes the Netherlands strong contenders this year and formidable opponents for South Africa in Monday’s opening Pool 1 tie.

Meanwhile, Great Britain also face Turkey in Pool 1. Britain set out to try and make it back-to-back World Team Cup victories in Sardinia after securing their fifth quad title in 2017, with Turkey looking to try and impress on their World Team Cup debut in the quad event.

Germany’s women aim for winning start against Mexico  

Germany’s sole representation in the 2021 BNP Paribas World Team Cup comes in the women’s event after Katharina Kruger and Britta Wend fused their respective experience and inexperience to surprise even themselves by reaching the final at the qualification event in Portugal in May.   

The fifth seeds aim to build on that performance and secure an early round-robin win when they take on an experienced but lower-ranked Mexico team in Pool 3 on Monday before both teams go on to play third seeds Great Britain.  

Germany finished runners-up to the Russian Tennis Federation in Portugal in May and the latter play Turkey in their opening contest in Pool 1 in Sardinia before both nations go on to tackle the might of 31-time World Team Cup champions the Netherlands in the days to come.

With none of the top four women’s seeds playing on the opening day of action in Sardinia, 2019 semi-finalists South Africa face Brazil before they both prepare to play second seeds Japan. Meanwhile, Colombia meet France in the opening round-robin contest in Pool 4 before going on to play fourth seeds USA.

Live streams will be available from two courts from Monday 27 September to Sunday 3 October, with matches available to follow on the ITF YouTube channel and on the ITF Facebook page.