The Billie Jean King Cup Weekend Runs Down Atlantic Avenue, From the GreenMarket to the Courts

"Coco always wants to win on her home turf," U.S. captain Lindsay Davenport said when USTA announced the team for the Billie Jean King Cup Playoff against Hungary. The tie is Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 21–22, at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, 201 W. Atlantic Ave.

For people who live here, the courts are only part of the weekend. Gates open at noon. The first ball goes up at 1:30 p.m. Up the street, the GreenMarket at Old School Square runs until 2 p.m. that Saturday. Since the U.S. women last played here in 2023, a new dining block has opened on the stretch between the two. That block turns a ticketed match into one continuous walk along West Atlantic.

What's Being Played For

The U.S. lost 3–1 to Belgium in the 2026 Qualifiers, which dropped the team into this Playoff. The winner returns to the 2027 Qualifying pool and stays in the running for the title.

USTA's nominated squad is Gauff, Madison Keys, Ann Li, Taylor Townsend and Nicole Melichar-Martinez. Hungary nominated Ana Bondar, Dalma Galfi, Amarissa Toth, Fanny Stollar and Adrienn Nagy. Captains can make up to three changes until Nov. 20, so the final lineups could still shift in the days before play.

The venue has a track record. The U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team is 4–0 all-time at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. The last win came in 2023, when Gauff and Jessica Pegula led a sweep of Austria in front of near sell-out crowds. The Tennis Center's event page says this is the fifth Billie Jean King Cup tie the venue has hosted.

Tickets are $35 for Saturday or Sunday alone and $50 for both days. They're sold through Ticketmaster, according to USTA. Tennis Channel carries the U.S. broadcast.

Saturday Gives You a Two-Hour Window

Saturday's timing makes it easy to do both. The Delray Beach CRA opened the GreenMarket's 31st winter season on Oct. 24 at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. It runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with more than 70 growers, makers and food vendors, and it has an on-site cooking area with seating. The Downtown Delray Beach market listing shows Nov. 21 on the regular schedule. The CRA posts any closure for citywide events on the market's webpage and on Instagram at @delraygreenmarket, so check there that morning.

The Southern Handcraft Society also has a show in Old School Square's Vintage Gym that Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to the City's calendar.

The overlap looks like this:

1. 9 a.m. GreenMarket and the handcraft show open at Old School Square.
2. Noon Tennis Center gates open at 201 W. Atlantic Ave.
3. 1:30 p.m. First singles match. Saturday has two singles matches between each country's top two nominated players.
4. 2 p.m. GreenMarket and handcraft show close.

That leaves two hours when both are open. Spend the morning at the market and head west on Atlantic when the gates open, or before.

The Block in Between Has Filled In

That walk west is the part that has changed since 2023. Sundy Village is a 7-acre, $21 million project on the block southwest of Atlantic and Swinton. It runs from Atlantic Avenue south to the historic Sundy House at Southwest First Street and sits just east of the library, police station and county courthouse complex on West Atlantic. The Coastal Star reported in September that the openings of Barcelona Wine Bar earlier this year and Double Knot this summer had more downtown diners heading west on Atlantic.

Here's what sits on that stretch:

• Barcelona Wine Bar, a Spanish wine bar and tapas restaurant, and Double Knot, a Japanese izakaya. Both are at 22 W. Atlantic Ave.
• Baya Bar, which The Coastal Star named with those two as a draw for diners.
• Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, in one of the restored historic buildings on Swinton Avenue.
• maman à la plage, the French café brand's first Delray location, at 40 S. Swinton Ave. It's set to open Nov. 12 in a building that dates to 1930, with an outdoor area that has ping-pong and cornhole, per Modern Luxury.

The City Commission voted Aug. 18 to allow outdoor dining until midnight on the decks, porches and patios around Sundy Village's historic buildings. On a match day, that means the block stays useful after the last ball, too.

West of the courts, more spots have opened in 2026. Tropical Smokehouse, a barbecue restaurant at 524 W. Atlantic Ave., opened Jan. 10, The Palm Beach Post reported. Dip n Crepe at 301 W. Atlantic and Coffee Beans and Greens at 400 W. Atlantic were on the Boca Raton Tribune's list of recently opened downtown businesses in May. Both are a short walk from the tennis center's front door.

Parking: The Closest Spots Are Free

Downtown parking rates go up the closer you get to Atlantic. The Downtown Delray Beach parking page posts these rates:

• $4 an hour on Atlantic Avenue itself
• $3 an hour on nearby side streets
• $2 an hour in lots near Atlantic
• $1.50 an hour in the garages

For this weekend, the free spots are right next to the venue. The Delray Beach Tennis Center lot at 201 W. Atlantic is listed as free. So is the Delray Beach Library lot at 100 W. Atlantic. The South County Courthouse Garage at 150 W. Atlantic is a separate structure, and it charges the $1.50 garage rate.

If those free lots are full, $1.50 an hour in a garage still beats a $4 meter on Atlantic. If you're doing the market first, the Old School Square Garage at 95 NE 1st Ave. puts you at the GreenMarket. From there you can walk to the courts and back. The Robert Federspiel Garage at 22 SE 1st Ave. is the other downtown garage at the same rate. Sundy Village also has its own 268-space underground garage.

The City's parking map shows real-time space counts in the My Delray Beach app. Check it before you leave the house.

If you'd rather not drive, Freebee runs free on-demand rides within the downtown service area. You can book through the app, call 855-918-3733 or flag one down. The City lists Saturday hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sunday Runs on a Different Clock

The same two blocks get busy again on Sunday, but the schedule works differently. The Coco Market Wellness Festival takes over the Delray Beach Amphitheatre at Old School Square from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., per the Downtown Delray Beach events calendar. That puts a crowd at Old School Square for the whole stretch that Tennis Center gates are open, including the first hour and a half of play.

The tennis has its own wrinkle. Sunday opens with a doubles match, followed by up to two more singles matches. The first country to win three of the five matches takes the tie, so if one side clinches early, Sunday's schedule gets shorter. Townsend comes in ranked No. 2 in doubles with a 39–4 doubles record in 2026, according to USTA. Whether Sunday's doubles decides anything depends on how Saturday's two singles matches go.

That also makes Sunday hard to plan around. A one-sided Saturday could mean an early finish. A split Saturday could mean a full afternoon. If you have Sunday dinner plans downtown, a flexible reservation helps.

After the Last Match

Both evenings have something to do downtown once play ends. Arts Garage, at 94 NE 2nd Ave., has Cary Hoffman on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 8 to 10 p.m. and One Hit Wonders on Sunday, Nov. 22, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jessy Díaz plays there the night before the tie, Friday, Nov. 20, from 8 to 10 p.m., per the Arts Garage calendar.

Up the same avenue in Pineapple Grove, Preface Wine has opened at 279 NE Second Ave., Boca Magazine reported in October. It's a wine shop and bar.

Freebee's Saturday service runs until 11 p.m., so getting from the Arts Garage show back to a parked car or home within the service area doesn't take another trip to the meters.

These ties also bring money into town. USTA reported that last September's Davis Cup qualifier between the U.S. and Czechia at the same venue generated more than $2 million for the local economy.

Hosting friends for the tie and wondering what your place near Atlantic would bring in today's market? Amie Calia knows downtown Delray block by block, from Old School Square to the tennis center gates, and offers full-service listing marketing at a 1.5% listing commission. Get Your Free Home Valuation before the season crowds arrive.