The Fed Cup Tennis Tournament

The Federation Cup is the sister event to the Davis Cup for female tennis players.

It was created in 1963 by the International Tennis Federation to establish an international team tournament for female tennis players.

The first Fed Cup tennis tournament was contested over a week by 16 national teams. The tournament was well supported by fans and female tennis champions from the outset, featuring the likes of Billie Jean King and Margaret Smith - who eventually faced each other in the final.

By 1994 the tournament had grown close to its present size, with 73 national teams converging on the host nation to determine the Federation Cup winner. The number of participating teams made the Fed Cup one of the largest sporting events in the world, and host countries were often required to redevelop facilities to accommodate all the games and participants.

The format of the Federation Cup tennis tournament was changed in 1995 in response to the large numbers of participants, and to bring it in line with the format and structure of the men’s Davis Cup. This meant an abandonment of a single host nation, and a format that allowed teams to play home and away ties.

Fed Cup Format

At present the Fed Cup is contested by 82 national woman’s tennis teams. The competition is organised into a multi-tier format that allows for relegation and promotion between zonal groups and the two elite World Groups on a yearly basis.

The Fed Cup title is contested in World Group I by the eight highest ranked nations in tennis. Over a period of months the teams compete in a series of two day long 5 game ties. Each tie involves four singles games and a doubles game, with the team winning the most matches claiming the tie.

The four winning teams in World Group I contest the semi-finals and finals. The home and away format is dropped for the knockout stages, and a draw is used to determine which team will have home-ground advantage for these games.

Fed Cup Winners

The United States has dominated the Fed Cup since its creation in 1963 with 17 titles. The next closest competitor is Australia with 7 Fed Cups.

The 2007 Fed Cup tennis tournament title was contested by Italy and Russia in Moscow. The Italians were unable to hold on to their 2006 title, and were overwhelmed 4-0 by a Russian team featuring several talented youngsters.

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