The Billie Jean King Cup Finals return to Shenzhen from 22 to 27 September, and the eight-nation field that assembles at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre now includes the world No. 1, an Olympic champion playing her first tie in more than two years, and a Wimbledon champion on a four-woman Czech squad that also carries this year’s Wimbledon runner-up.
Elena Rybakina leads Kazakhstan in what is her ninth nomination for the competition. She arrives having won the US Open on Saturday and having formally taken the No. 1 ranking on Monday, the first player from Kazakhstan of either sex to hold it.
The quarterfinal draw. Czechia play Great Britain in the opening tie. Holders Italy face hosts China in a repeat of a previous quarterfinal meeting. Ukraine play Belgium. Kazakhstan play Spain.
The format. The Finals are a straight knockout — quarterfinals, semifinals, final — with no group stage. There is no seeding path to protect the holders: Italy, who have won the last two editions, drew the host nation in the first round. The qualifying round in April moved to a best-of-five format with the doubles rubber promoted to third, aligning the competition with the Davis Cup. At last year’s Finals in the same arena, ties were settled over three rubbers in a single day, two singles followed by doubles where needed.
Kazakhstan v Spain. Rybakina’s presence makes this the tie with the highest ceiling in the draw. She beat Zheng Qinwen in three sets in the US Open quarterfinal to clinch the ranking, then beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Spain bring Sara Sorribes Tormo, an Olympic medallist, on a surface that does not naturally suit a squad built on clay instincts.
Czechia v Great Britain. The Czech squad is the deepest in the field on paper: Linda Noskova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, Karolina Muchova, who was runner-up at the same tournament, and Katerina Siniakova, the Paris 2024 mixed doubles gold medallist. Britain’s squad includes Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart. Britain are here because they beat Australia away in Melbourne in April, which was among the larger upsets of the qualifying round.
Italy v China. Zheng Qinwen headlines the host nation and this is her first Billie Jean King Cup appearance since April 2024. She missed the 2025 Finals recovering from elbow surgery, fell out of the WTA top 100 in June, and reached the US Open quarterfinals from qualifying, a run that lifted her 69 places to No. 52 in Monday’s rankings. Italy counter with Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, the Paris 2024 women’s doubles champions, and are chasing a third consecutive title.
Ukraine v Belgium. Ukraine field two of the stronger singles players in the draw in Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, and have never won the competition. Belgium are here having beaten the United States away in the qualifying round, which removed the 2025 runners-up from the tournament before it began.
How to watch. Coverage is carried by national broadcasters in each competing country. In selected territories the governing body streams ties on billiejeankingcup.com and through the World Cup of Tennis app, which is how the April qualifying round was distributed. Territory-by-territory broadcast details for the Finals had not been published as of the last update to this piece.
The men’s equivalent, the same month. The Davis Cup Qualifiers second round is played from 18 to 20 September, the week before Shenzhen, with seven places in the Davis Cup Finals at stake. For how the two team competitions differ, see our guide to the major national team events.
