31-year-old Sinead Lohan will play her 27th Billie Jean King Cup for Ireland in San Marino this June, when she leads a team seeking promotion from Europe Group lll.
With an impressive record of 18 wins in the competition to date, Lohan is up for the challenge: “This year two teams will get promoted instead of one as was the case previously. That gives us a real incentive. We have a great squad, and we are ready to compete at a high level. Representing Ireland is an honour and I’m really looking forward to putting on the green and playing with the squad,” she said.
Lohan is joined by Aisling O’Connor, a UCD Astra Elite Sport Scholar and National Indoors champion in both singles and doubles who brings proven quality across both formats, Celine Simunyu, in her first year at the University of Arkansas competing for the Razorbacks, who adds fresh NCAA collegiate experience to the squad, and Anna Bowtell, a Rice University graduate and powerful and experienced presence who will be a key player for Ireland throughout the competition.
Non-playing captain John McGahon said: “Competition will be fierce, with Estonia’s Elena Malygina (WTA 295) among the players to watch and Moldova, who were in contention for promotion in 2025, again expected to be among the sides to beat. But we have a special group of players and we will challenge hard.”
Ireland will compete at the Centro Tennis Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 June, in a round robin format from Wednesday to Friday with playoffs on Saturday. They will face Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Iceland, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro and San Marino.
The format of the competition has changed this year, with the top two nations earning promotion to Europe/Africa Group II in 2027 – up from just one promotion place in previous years. Both Estonia and Kosovo were relegated from Group II last year, strengthening the overall field.
