The Billie Jean King Cup Playoffs are the competition’s promotion and relegation round. Fourteen nations play seven home-or-away ties, this year from 20 to 22 November. The seven winners move up to the 2027 Qualifiers, one tie away from the Finals. The seven losers drop to Regional Group I in 2027. This explainer covers where the playoffs sit in the competition, who plays in them, how a tie works and what the 2026 ties are.
Where the playoffs sit
More than 140 nations enter the Billie Jean King Cup each year. The competition has four levels: Regional Groups, playoffs, Qualifiers and Finals. Teams move up and down between them each season, and the winners of the Finals become world champions. The playoffs are the second level, between the regional events and the Qualifiers.
Who plays
The playoffs bring together two groups of seven nations:
- the seven nations that lost their Qualifiers ties in April, and so missed the Finals
- the seven nations that won their Regional Group I ties in April
That makes the round a direct meeting between teams coming down from one level and teams coming up from the one below.
How a tie works
Each playoff is a single tie between two nations, played at the home of one of them. The host nation chooses the surface. A tie lasts two days and has five matches:
- Day one: two singles matches
- Day two: the doubles first, then two more singles
The first nation to win three matches wins the tie. The April Qualifiers use the same two-day, five-match format. The Finals are different: eight nations play a knockout draw at one venue over six days, and each tie is two singles followed by a doubles on a single day, with the first nation to two matches going through. For how the doubles rubber is played, see GTN’s doubles explainer.
What is at stake
A Playoff win puts a nation into the Qualifiers the following April. The Qualifiers are seven more home-or-away ties, and their winners join the host nation at the Finals. A playoff defeat sends a nation to its Regional Group I event in April instead, where it has to win its way back.
Regional Group I is the highest regional division. The regional groups run from Group I down to Group IV and are split by region: Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe, with Europe and Africa merged at Group I and II level. Group events are week-long and held at one venue, with round-robin pools followed by playoffs that decide promotion and relegation.
How the format has changed
The 2025 playoffs were played in groups. The 2026 Qualifiers were made up of the seven teams from the 2025 Finals, not counting host China, and the seven nations that won their 2025 playoff groups in November. In 2026 the playoffs are back to one tie per nation, played home or away, with the same two-day format as the Qualifiers.
The 2026 Playoff ties
Home nation listed first.
- USA v Hungary: 21–22 November, Delray Beach Tennis Center, Delray Beach, Florida
- Brazil v Canada: 20–21 November, Shopping Vitoria, Vitoria
- Poland v Sweden: 20–21 November, Hala Mistrzow, Wloclawek
- Japan v Argentina: 21–22 November, Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo
- France v Australia: 21–22 November, Le Chaudron, Le Portel
- Thailand v Switzerland: 21–22 November, National Tennis Development Center, Nonthaburi
- Slovenia v Indonesia: 20–21 November, Bela Dvorana, Velenje
Entry to the Thailand v Switzerland and Slovenia v Indonesia ties is free, with no ticket required.
The road to the Finals
For a nation in the playoffs, the shortest route to the Finals is two wins in two ties: the playoff in November and a Qualifier the following April. The 2026 Finals were played in Shenzhen, China, from 22 to 27 September, and Czechia won the title. Total player prize money at the 2026 Finals was $4.9 million, with $1.5 million for the champion team. Past champions and records are in GTN’s Billie Jean King Cup records, and the men’s equivalent is covered in the Davis Cup winners list.
Season Snapshot (as of 29 October 2026)
Team nominations for the 2026 Playoffs were announced on 21 October. Coco Gauff leads the U.S. team against Hungary in Delray Beach, covered in GTN’s Playoffs team news. Results will be added after the ties are played.
This snapshot is dated and will change. The format above does not.
