2020–21 Billie Jean King Cup finals explained

Date:	November 1–6, 2021
Edition:	58th
Surface:	Hard (Indoor)
Location:	Prague, Czech Republic
Venue:	O₂ Arena
Champ:	Russian Tennis Federation
Main Name:	Billie Jean King Cup
Before Name:	Fed Cup World Group
Before Year:	2019

See main article: 2020–21 Billie Jean King Cup.

The finals, formerly known as World Group, is the highest level of Billie Jean King Cup competition in 2020–21. It was originally scheduled to be played on indoor clay courts at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary, from 14 until 19 April 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] The new venue was established to be the O2 Arena, in Prague,^[4] on indoor hard (Rebound Ace) court.^[5] The ties were contested in a best-of-three rubbers format and are played on one day. There were two singles matches, followed by a single doubles tie.

France were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the round-robin stage, losing both their ties.

The Russian Tennis Federation won the title, defeating Switzerland in the final, 2–0.^[6]

Participating teams

12 nations took part in the finals. The qualification was as follows:

2 finalists of the previous edition
1 host nation
1 wild card^[7]
8 winners of a qualifier round, in February 2020

Participating teams
width=17%		width=17%		width=17%		width=17%	(WC)	width=17%	(H)	width=17%	(TH)
width=17%		width=17%	RTF	width=17%		width=17%		width=17%		width=17%

Team nominations

SR = Singles ranking, DR = Doubles ranking. Rankings are as of 1 November 2021.^[8]


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	43	140
	131	33
	200	43
	232	180
	412	559
Captain: Alicia Molik


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	88	79
	192	495
	263	311
	356	238
		90
Captain: Tatiana Poutchek


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	18	1
	70	81
	146	395
	160	148
Captain: Johan Van Herck


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	148	175
	328	570
	353
	710	5
Captain: Sylvain Bruneau


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	3	3
	35	66
	48	188
	49	2
	557	29
Captain: Petr Pála


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	59	281
	75	170
	77	268
	105	410
Captain: Julien Benneteau


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	9	379
	76	135
	134
	137	93
	297	1319
Captain: Rainer Schüttler

RTF
width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	12	108
	28	284
	31	11
	32	146
	40	1342
Captain: Igor Andreev


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	83	621
	111
	172	491
	175	59
	618	111
Captain: Matej Lipták


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	37	69
	66	359
	163	86
	167	270
	330	1103
Captain: Anabel Medina Garrigues


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	17	155
	39	106
	45	145
	116	964
Captain: Heinz Günthardt


width=160	Player	width=30	SR !	width=30	DR
	30	492
	42	74
	63	1085
	151	156
	197	28
Captain: Kathy Rinaldi

Format

The 12 teams are divided in four round robin groups of three teams each. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals.

Day	Round	Number of teams
1–4 November	Round robin	12 (4 groups of 3 teams)
5 November	Semifinals	4
6 November	Final	2

Group stage

Overview

T = Ties, M = Matches, S = Sets

Group	Winners				Runners-up				Third
Group	width=140	Nation!	width=35	T!	width=35	M!	width=35	S	width=140	Nation!	width=35	T!	width=35	M!	width=35	S	width=140	Nation!	width=35	T!	width=35	M!	width=35	S
A	style=text-align:left bgcolor=ccffcc	RTF	2–0	5–1	11–4	style=text-align:left		1–1	2–4	5–9	style=text-align:left		0–2	2–4	6–9
B	style=text-align:left bgcolor=ccffcc		2–0	4–2	8–7	style=text-align:left		1–1	3–3	8–7	style=text-align:left		0–2	2–4	6–8
C	style=text-align:left bgcolor=ccffcc		1–1	3–3	7–6	style=text-align:left		1–1	3–3	8–8	style=text-align:left		1–1	3–3	7–8
D	style=text-align:left bgcolor=ccffcc		2–0	5–1	10–3	style=text-align:left		1–1		3–3		7–7	style=text-align:left		0–2		1–5		4–11

Group A

Pos.	width=140	Country	width=75	Ties	width=75	Matches	width=75	Sets	width=60	Sets %	width=75	Games	width=60	Games %
1	RTF	2–0	5–1	11–4	73%	82–51	62%
2		1–1	2–4	5–9	36%	59–76	44%
3		0–2	2–4	6–9	40%	67–81	45%

France vs. RTF

Group B

Pos.	width=140	Country	width=75	Ties	width=75	Matches	width=75	Sets	width=60	Sets %	width=75	Games	width=60	Games %
1		2–0	4–2	8–7	63%	71–67	51%
2		1–1	3–3	8–7	53%	73–61	54%
3		0–2	2–4	6–8	43%	55–71	44%

Australia vs. Belarus

Group C

Pos.	width=140	Country	width=75	Ties	width=75	Matches	width=75	Sets	width=60	Sets %	width=75	Games	width=60	Games %
1		1–1	3–3	7–6	54%	60–51	54%
2		1–1	3–3	8–8	50%	64–66	49%
3		1–1	3–3	7–8	47%	58–65	47%

United States vs. Spain

Group D

Pos.	width=140	Country	width=75	Ties	width=75	Matches	width=75	Sets	width=60	Sets %	width=75	Games	width=60	Games %
1		2–0	5–1	10–3	77%	73–51	59%
2		1–1	3–3	7–7	50%	64–64	50%
3		0–2	1–5	4–11	27%	56–78	42%

Czech Republic vs. Switzerland

Knockout stage

Semifinals

Australia vs. Switzerland

Final

RTF vs. Switzerland

External links

Official website

Notes and References

Web site: Fed Cup Finals and Play-offs postponed. 11 March 2020. billiejeankingcup.com. 12 March 2020.
Web site: Billie Jean King Cup Finals to be rescheduled in 2021. 18 February 2021. billiejeankingcup.com. 19 February 2021.
Web site: Billie Jean King Cup Finals to be moved from Budapest. 5 May 2021. SportsPro. 13 July 2021.
https://www.o2arena.cz/events/billie-jean-king-cup-by-bnp-paribas/ O2 Arena News
https://www.tenisovysvet.cz/article/detail/14698--pohar-billie-jean-kingove-kapitan-pala-odtajnil-nominaci-nechybi-v-ni-olympijske-medailistky BJK Cup News
Web site: Samsonova leads Russia to fifth Billie Jean King Cup title. 6 November 2021. Reuters.
Web site: Billie Jean King Cup Finals to take place in November at Prague's O2 Arena. billiejeankingcup.com. 2 November 2021.
Web site: Billie Jean King Cup - Teams. billiejeankingcup.com. 5 October 2021.