This will be the first time the Estonian, 38, has represented her country at national team level since 2015, while Kanepi has also only played one competitive matching 2024 so far, round one of the Australian Open qualifiers, back in January.

Team captain Märten Tamla is confident that Kanepi will still be a significant asset to the team. "Kaia is coming," he told Delfi Sport. "I can't say exactly what shape she is in though."

"I called her and asked if she was willing to come along. She thought about it a bit, then said she needs to train more and try to get back in as good a condition as possible. After she had engaged in a few training sessions, we got in touch again. That's how things went," Tamla went on.

In addition to Kanepi, the team is made up of Elena Malõgina (WTA 367th), Maileen Nuudi (WTA 503), Laura Rahnel (unranked), and Estonian-American Ingrid Neel (WTA doubles 40th). Neel has been troubled by a back injury since the end of the last season, but has been recovering, Tamla added.

He said: "Ingrid has been able to train properly for the past three weeks now, and to play for points in training without experiencing back pain. This was a last-minute decision for her to join the team."

Eleven teams take part in the Euro-African Zone Group II Billie Jean King Cup tournament in Vilnius.

The 11 play across one three-team and two four-team tables, and while the draw has not been carried out yet, Estonia's possible opponents include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, Morocco, North Macedonia, and Malta.

The winner of each group advances to round two, to meet the winners of the other groups. The overall top two teams gain promotion to the Euro-African Zone Group I for 2025.

Kanepi's career-high ranking is 15th, and she has reached the quarter finals of all four grand slam events.

She is currently ranked 226th in the world.

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