Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Finals: Teams, Format, and Full Match Schedule

The 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals will take place from September 16–21, and teams including Spain, the United States, and Great Britain are hoping to unseat Italy as the current champions.

Some of the top players on the WTA Tour will compete in the 62nd edition of the annual competition, which was previously known as the Federation Cup and Fed Cup. This year, it will be hosted in China for the first time.

Everything you need to know about the competition known as the “World Cup of women’s tennis” is provided here.

When and where is the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals?

• Dates: September 16-21
• Venue: Shenzhen Bay Sports Center Arena in Shenzhen, China

This year, China will host the event for the first time, setting a new record.

In 1989, while it was known as the Federation Cup, Japan (Tokyo) was the last Asian nation to host the competition. Since 2020, it has only been contested in Europe, with Prague, Glasgow, Seville, and Malaga winning the title.

However, the port city of Shenzhen has been granted the hosting rights for the BJK Cup Finals until 2027, meaning the competition will now take place in China for the following three years.

Shenzhen, which is close to Hong Kong on China’s south coast, has a long history of hosting the 2019 WTA Finals and was a regular stop on the WTA schedule from 2013 to 2020.

The schedule, dates, and format for the 2025 BJK Cup Finals

Eight teams will compete in a knockout style throughout the course of the six-day event. The quarterfinals will see the top four seeds—Italy, the United States, Spain, and Great Britain—face China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Japan, respectively.

Usually consisting of three matches, each tie will be contested as best-of-three tie-break sets, with two singles matches and one doubles rubber.

Unless both countries and the referee agree otherwise, the doubles match must still be played in the quarterfinals and semifinals even if a team wins both singles matches to gain an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the tie.

If the second singles match is decisive in the final, the doubles match will not be played.

Here is a look at the 2025 tournament schedule:

Quarterfinals

• Tue, Sep 16: Italy v China — starts 5pm local China time (5 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. BST)
• Wed, Sep 17: Spain v Ukraine — 5pm local time (5 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. BST)
• Thu, Sep 18: Kazakhstan v USA — 10am local time (10 p.m. Sep 17 ET, 3 a.m.)
• Thu, Sep 18: Great Britain v Japan — 5pm local time (5 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. BST)

Semifinals

• Fri, Sep 19: Italy/China v Spain/Ukraine — 5pm local time (5 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. BST)
• Sat, Sep 20: Kazakhstan/USA v Great Britain/Japan — 5pm local time (5 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. BST)

Final

• Sun, Sep 21 — 5pm local time (5 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. BST)

What surface will be used for the BJK Cup Finals in 2025?

The last time the BJK Cup Finals were held on clay was in Italy twelve years ago. Traditionally, the finals are held on indoor hard courts at the end of the WTA season in November.

The main women’s team tennis tournament has been moved up two months to September and will once again take place on indoor hard courts. Conchita Martinez, the tournament director, has stated that the action will be medium-paced.

This will reduce players’ travel fatigue and align with the WTA calendar’s Asian swing. The week following the BJK Cup Finals, the China Open will be held.

Who will compete in the 2025 BJK Cup Finals?

This year’s BJK Cup has had a record 146 countries compete at different levels; to reflect the Davis Cup, those countries have now been cut from 12 to eight for the Finals.

Great Britain, Japan, Kazakhstan, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States secured their spots through the qualifications, while hosts China and reigning champion Italy were granted direct access to the Finals.

Top 10 players Elena Rybakina (Kazazhstan), Jasmine Paolini (Italy), and Jessica Pegula (USA) are among the well-known figures scheduled to participate.

Why do certain BJK Cup teams have five players while others only have four?

While the majority of countries have chosen to use their full five-player quota, winners Italy, like Great Britain, have only selected four players for Shenzhen, all of whom were on the squad that won the championship the previous year.

That is acceptable because Finals teams are required by rule to select either a non-playing leader and four or five players, or a playing skipper and three or four players. This year, all eight captains will not be participating.

Before 11 a.m. local time on September 15, rival clubs are permitted to make up to four alterations to their rosters.