2023 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers: What's at stake?

Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge is back!

Next week, a total of 52 nations will take part in the women’s world cup of tennis as the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup campaign gets underway.

The 52 nations will be competing across Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers and Group I and Group II events. 

Finals Countdown

The 18 nations contesting the Qualifiers from 14-15 April on a home-and-away basis are battling for a place at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals.

The nine winning teams will secure a place at the Finals, which will take place from 7-12 November 2023, alongside 2022 world champions Switzerland, 2022 runners-up Australia and one wild card.

The Finals will feature 12 teams competing in four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semi-finals and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup champions will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.

How do the ties work?

All Qualifiers will be played as best-of-five matches (four singles and a doubles). On day one, the home nation’s No. 1 player will play the away nation’s No. 2 player and then vice versa.

On day two, the home nation’s No. 1 player will play against the away nation’s No. 1 player, with the home nation’s No. 2 player subsequently playing the away nation’s No. 2 player. The doubles will then be contested. All live matches are played as best-of-three tiebreak sets.

What happens to the nations that lose the Qualifiers?

The losing nations in the Qualifiers will compete in the Play-offs, which will take place on either 10-11, or 11-12 November 2023.

The Play-offs will be played on a home-and-away basis, with the winning teams competing in the 2024 Qualifiers, while the losing nations will contest Group I events in 2024.

Group I and Group II

As well as the Qualifiers, Group I and some Group II events are also taking place next week, beginning on either 10 or 11 April.

Groups I-III of Billie Jean King Cup are divided into three regions: Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe/Africa. Within each region there are two divisions – Group I being the higher and Group II the lower. Europe/Africa also has a Group III.

Group events take place over a week and are played at one location. Each Group is initially split into round-robin pools, with play-offs then deciding promotion and relegation. The exact format of each Group varies according to the number of participating teams.

Promoted teams from Group I will advance in the competition and contest November’s Play-offs with the hope of sealing a place in the 2024 Qualifiers. Promoted teams from Group II will progress to the next Group I event.

Starting on Monday 10 April and kickstarting the entire week of Billie Jean King Cup week, Group I Europe/Africa will be taking place in Antalya, Türkiye.

Then, from Tuesday 11 April, Group I Americas and Group I Asia/Oceania will begin in Cucuta, Colombia and Tashkent, Uzbekistan respectively. Group II Europe/Africa also gets underway on Monday in Oeiras, Portugal.  

Stat attack

Twelve nations have been crowned Billie Jean King Cup champions since the competition started 60 years ago in 1963. With 18, USA have won more Billie Jean King Cup titles than any other nation. Czech Republic are second on the all-time list of title wins with 11.

Eight previous Billie Jean King Cup champions – France, Czech Republic, Italy, USA, Slovakia, Belgium, Spain and Germany – are competing in next week’s Qualifiers.

Record Participation

A record 134 nations have entered Billie Jean King Cup this year. In 2022, 118 nations and 459 players took part – both of which were records at the time.