Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Finals: format, qualifying teams, schedule of matches

The 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals take place from September 16-21 with the likes of Spain, USA and Great Britain looking to snatch the title away from holders Italy.

The 62nd edition of the annual tournament, formerly known as the Federation Cup and Fed Cup, will feature some of the leading names on the WTA Tour and will be held in China for the first time this year. 

Here's everything you need to know about the tournament dubbed the "World Cup of women's tennis".

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

Dates: September 16-21

Venue: Shenzhen Bay Sports Center Arena in Shenzhen, China

New ground will be broken this year as China stages the tournament for the first time. 

Japan (Tokyo) was the last Asian country to host the event, back in 1989 when it was the Federation Cup, and since being renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020 it has only been held in Europe, with Prague, Glasgow, Seville and Malaga taking the honours.

But the BJK Cup Finals will now find a home in China for the next three years, with the port city of Shenzhen being award hosting rights until 2027.

Shenzhen, located on the south coast of China near Hong Kong, is no stranger to women's elite tennis having been a fixture on the WTA calendar between 2013 and 2020 as well as staging the 2019 WTA Finals.

MORE: Latest tennis news | Who are the teams competing at the 2025 BJK Cup Finals?

BJK Cup Finals 2025 schedule, dates, format

The six-day event will see eight teams battle it out in a knockout format, starting from the quarterfinal stage, where seeded quartet Italy, Great Britain, United States and Spain will face China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Japan respectively.

Each tie will generally comprise of three matches — two singles followed by one doubles rubber — and will be played as best-of-three tie-break sets.

For the quarterfinals and semifinals, even if a team wins both singles matches to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie then the doubles match must still be played unless both nations and the referee agree otherwise. 

In the final, the doubles match will not be played if the second singles match is decisive.

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 the 2025 BJK Cup Finals be played on?

Traditionally, the BJK Cup Finals have been played on indoor hard courts at the end of the WTA season in November, with the last time it was played on clay being in Italy 12 years ago. 

This year, the premier women's team tennis event will again be played on indoor hard courts, which tournament director Conchita Martinez has said will be medium-paced, but the tournament has been brought forward two months to September.

That is to coincide with the Asian swing of the WTA calendar and cut down on travel fatigue for the players. The China Open will take place the week after the BJK Cup Finals.

Who is playing at the BJK Cup Finals 2025?

A record 146 nations have taken part in this year's BJK Cup at various levels of the competition and those have now been whittled down to eight for the Finals, reduced from 12 last year to mirror the Davis Cup. 

Of those eight teams, hosts China and defending champions Italy got direct entry to the Finals, while Great Britain, Japan, Kazakhstan, Spain, Ukraine and USA booked their places through the qualifiers.

Among the star names set to take part are Top 10 players Jessica Pegula (USA), Jasmine Paolini (Italy) and Elena Rybakina (Kazazhstan).

Why have some teams BJK Cup teams got five players and others four?

While most teams have opted for their maximum quota of five players, champions Italy have named only four — all part of the team that lifted the title last year — in their side for Shenzhen, the same as Great Britain have.

That is fine, with rules stating that Finals teams must nominate either a playing captain and three to four players, or a non-playing captain and four to five players.  All eight captains this year are set to be non-playing.

Competing teams can make up to four changes to their sides before 11am local time on September 15.

2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals full team nominations

China

• Captain: Liu Feng
• Team: Wang Xinyu (replacing Zheng Qinwen), Yuan Yue, Zhang Shuai, Jiang Xinyu, Wang Xiyu

Great Britain

• Captain: Anne Keothavong
• Team: Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage, Francesca Jones (replacing Emma Raducanu)

Italy

• Captain: Tathiana Garbin
• Team: Jasmine Paolini, Lucia Bronzetti, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Sara Errani

Japan 

• Captain: Ai Sugiyama
• Team: Moyuka Uchijima, Ena Shibahara, Eri Hozumi, Shuko Aoyama, Nao Hibino (replacing Naomi Osaka)

Kazakhstan

• Captain: Yuriy Schukin
• Team: Elena Rybakina, Yulia Putintseva, Zarina Diyas, Anna Danilina, Zhibek Kulambayeva

Spain 

• Captain: Carla Suarez Navarro
• Team: Paula Badosa, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Cristina Bucsa, Aliona Bolsova, Leyre Romero (replacing Nuria Parrizas Diaz)

Ukraine

• Captain: Illya Marchenko
• Team: Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, Lyudmyla Kichenok, Nadiia Kichenok, Yuliia Starodubtseva

USA

• Captain: Lindsay Davenport
• Team: Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Hailey Baptiste, Taylor Townsend, McCartney Kessler (replacing Madison Keys)