The Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the premier team competition in women's tennis. The women’s equivalent of the Davis Cup, it sees the world’s top players competing for their countries.
Around 90 nations compete annually in the Fed Cup. Only the top 16 nations make up the elite divisions – eight each in the World Group and World Group II.
Beyond the World Groups, nations compete in regional or ‘Zonal’ Groups: Americas Zone, Asia/Oceania Zone and Europe/Africa Zone. The Zones are further divided into different levels, Group I and Group II, and in the Europe/Africa Zone, Group III.
Competition format
In the World Group, each tie is the best of five rubbers and is played over a three-day weekend. On the first day there are two singles rubbers, followed by a doubles rubber on the second day and the reverse singles rubbers on the final day.
The ties are played on a home and away knock-out basis with the final taking place in September. Play-off ties for the World Group and World Group II are held in July and are also played on a home and away knock-out basis.
Within the ‘Zonal’ Groups, which are played at the beginning of the year, teams are split into pools and play against each other in a round-robin format. Each Group takes place at a single venue over one week with the top and bottom teams progressing to promotion and relegation play-offs.
Ties are played over the best of three rubbers, two singles and a doubles. The exact format of each Group, including promotion and relegation between them, varies according to the number of participating teams.
GB in Fed Cup action
Great Britain has been in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I since 2005 - winning Pool A in 2009 before narrowly losing to Poland in the play-offs.
Britain has competed in the Fed Cup since its introduction in 1963 and has finished runner-up on four occasions, most recently in 1981. In total, the team has played 168 ties (W107/L61) with Virginia Wade holding the record number of appearances at 57, gained over an illustrious 17 year career.
Recent results
2009 - Europe/Africa Zone Group I
- GB 1-2 Poland: Play-off
- GB 3-0 Luxembourg: Pool A
- GB 3-0 Netherlands: Pool A
- GB 3-0 Hungary: Pool A
* Held in Tallinn, Estonia
2008 - Europe/Africa Zone Group I
- GB 2-0 Portugal: Play-off
- GB 1-2 Denmark: Pool B
- GB 1-2 Hungary: Pool B
- GB 1-2 Switzerland: Pool B
* Held in Budapest, Hungary
2007 - Europe/Africa Zone Group I
- GB 0-3 Sweden: Play-off
- GB 0-3 Poland: Pool D
- GB 1-2 Luxembourg: Pool D
- GB 3-0 Bulgaria: Pool D
* Held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2006 - Europe/Africa Zone Group I
- GB 1-2 Slovak Republic: Play-off
- GB 2-1 Hungary: Pool C
- GB 2-1 Bulgaria: Pool C
- GB 3-0 Ukraine: Pool C
* Held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria