The Fed Cup Qualifiers will start on Friday 7th February 2020. In the qualifiers 16 nations will compete to reach the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals in Budapest, Hungary.
During 2020, 116 nations will be competing, thereby making Fed Cup the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport.
Fed Cup Finals
The inaugural event of Fed Cup, featuring 12 teams will be held in Budapest, Hungary on 14-19 April 2020. The 12 teams include the two 2019 finalists, the host nation, a wild card and eight qualifiers.
According to the new format, 12 teams will compete in four groups, with each group constituting of three teams.
After the group matches the winner team of each group will move on to the semi-finals.
Ultimately, the first champion and runner-up teams will have direct entry to the next year’s Fed Cup Finals. The teams at 3-10 ranking will compete in the following year’s Fed Cup Qualifiers. And the teams ranked 11-12 will compete in the regional Group I events in the coming year.
Fed Cup Qualifiers
As per the rules, the 2020 Qualifiers will consist of eight ties played on a home-and-away basis. And all matches will be played on best-of-five basis.
The teams which win will progress to the Fed Cup Finals. And the losing teams will compete in the Play-offs to be held in the same week as the Finals (week 15 in 2020).
Fed Cup Play-offs
The Play-offs of Fed Cup will be held during the same week as the Fed Cup Finals. They will consist of eight ties played on a home-and-away basis, all of which will be played as best-of-five matches.
The winner nations will take part in the Fed Cup Qualifiers and Loser nations will compete in Group I events during the following year.
Groups I-III
The Groups I-III 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, except for Europe/Africa, which also has a Group III.
Groups events are week-long 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.
Ties Rules Applicable
Fed Cup Finals
All ties at the Finals will include three matches (two singles followed by doubles).
Fed Cup Qualifiers and Play-offs
The Qualifier and Play-off ties will be played as best-of-five matches (four singles followed by doubles) over two days.
Group I-III
Ties are contested in a best-of-three rubbers format and are played on one day. There are two singles followed by a doubles. Due to the multi-nation format, ties take place on successive days.
Dates for 2020
7-8 February
- Fed Cup Qualifiers
Week commencing 3 February
- Americas Group I
- Asia/Oceania Group I
- Europe/Africa Group I
- Europe/Africa Group II
14-19 April
- Fed Cup Finals
17-18 April
- Fed Cup Play-offs
Week commencing 8 June
- Americas Group II
- Asia/Oceania Group II
- Europe/Africa Group III
