All you need to know about Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Finals 2021

The inaugural edition of the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Finals in its new format will take place on the indoor hard courts of Prague’s O2 Arena from Monday 1 November – Saturday 6 November.

These are the first Finals to take place since Fed Cup was renamed Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas in September 2020. It was a rebrand which reshaped the women’s world cup of tennis and the first time a major global team competition had been named after a woman.

The Finals were originally scheduled to be held in Budapest in April 2020 but were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Prague, meanwhile, was announced as the new venue for the Finals in August 2021.

The Billie Jean King Cup Finals would usually be the culmination of a year-long journey for nations but, due to Covid-19, this year’s Finals are in fact the climax of the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

The Finals will feature 12 teams, who will compete in four round-robin groups of three teams. The four group winners will qualify for the semi-finals, with the Billie Jean King Cup champions crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.

How teams reached the 2021 Finals

Three teams qualified for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals 2021 automatically:

• France – as 2019 Billie Jean King Cup champions

• Australia – as 2019 Billie Jean King Cup runners-up

• Czech Republic – awarded a wild card

A further eight teams advanced to the Finals after victories in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, which were played on 7-8 February 2020:

• USA – defeated Latvia 3-2 in Everett, WA, USA

• Belarus – defeated Netherlands 3-2 in Den Haag, Netherlands

• Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) – defeated Romania 3-2 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

• Germany – defeated Brazil 4-0 in Florianopolis, Brazil

• Spain – defeated Japan 3-1 in Cartagena, Spain

• Switzerland – defeated Canada 3-1 in Biel, Switzerland

• Belgium – defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 in Kortrijk, Belgium

• Slovakia – defeated Great Britain 3-1 in Bratislava, Slovakia

The 12th team to compete in the Finals are Canada, who replaced previous host nation Hungary. Canada were the highest-ranked winning nation from the Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs played in April 2021, with the team recording a 4-0 away victory against Serbia.

Draw and schedule

Group A: France (1), Russian Tennis Federation, Canada

Group B: Australia (2), Belarus, Belgium

Group C: USA (3), Spain, Slovakia

Group D: Czech Republic (4), Germany, Switzerland

Semi-Finals: Winner Group A v Winner Group C, Winner Group B v Winner Group D

Ties in the round-robin format will be contested from Monday to Thursday. The four group winners will advance to the semi-finals which will be played on Friday, with the winning teams progressing to the Billie Jean King Cup Final on Saturday.

Play begins at 10.30 (CET) on Monday, with defending champions France up against Canada and Belgium taking on Belarus.

The full schedule for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals is available here.

Full previews of each group are available here:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Format of ties

All ties at the Finals will consist of three matches (two singles followed by doubles). The first match will be contested by the second-ranked players selected by each team. The second match will be contested by the top-ranked players selected by each team. The doubles match will follow the singles matches. Nominations are announced one hour before the tie begins.

Past champions and tournament heavyweights

Eleven nations have won Billie Jean King Cup – nine of which are competing in Prague this year. The only three nations competing at the 2021 Finals who have not won the title are Belarus, Canada and Switzerland.

USA are the most successful nation in the competition’s history with 18 titles, while hosts Czech Republic have been crowned champions on 11 occasions (five as Czechoslovakia).

The Czechs have created something of a dynasty during the last decade. From 2011, Czech Republic triumphed six times in eight years, with their last title coming in 2018.

Previous winners:

• USA - 18

• Czech Republic (five as Czechoslovakia) - 11

• Australia - 7

• Spain - 5         

• Italy, Russia - 4

• France - 3                                 

• Germany - 2

• Belgium, Slovakia, South Africa - 1

Key player information

Of the nominated players at the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, eight – Alize Cornet, Caroline Garcia, Fiona Ferro, Lucie Hradecka, Barbora Krejcikova, Katerina Siniakova, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe – have won at least one Billie Jean King Cup title during their careers. Hredecka, meanwhile, is the sole player to have won multiple titles.

There will be three Grand Slam singles champions – Angelique Kerber, Krejcikova and Sloane Stephens – on show and six Grand Slam doubles champions. The Grand Slam doubles champions are Garcia, Hradecka, Krejcikova, Elise Mertens, Siniakova and Vandeweghe.

In addition, eight players have won at least one Olympic medal: Belinda Bencic, Viktorija Golubic, Hradecka, Kerber, Krejcikova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Siniakova and Marketa Vondrousova.

What happens after the 2021 Finals?

The two finalists will qualify automatically for the 2022 Finals. The remaining 10 nations will contest the 2022 Qualifiers.