Jasmine Paolini leads Italian title defence, USA chase record 19th triumph

All roads lead to Shenzhen for the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup finals (16-21 September).

The women’s World Cup of tennis is heading to the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in the People’s Republic of China, the first time the finals are being held in Asia since 1989. It was renamed in 2020 from the Fed Cup in tribute to Billie Jean King, the tennis trailblazer who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

Eight teams will compete to be crowned world champions in a field headlined by defending champions Italy and hosts China. The Italians return with the goal of being the first nation to go back-to-back since Czechia (then Czech Republic) nine years ago.

The knockout stage tournament will begin at the quarter-finals, where four teams were seeded based on their international ranking: top seeds Italy, followed by Great Britain, USA and Spain. They all compete against unseeded teams in their opening tie.

Ties are contested as best-of-three set matches and best-of-three matches: two singles rubbers and a decisive doubles matchup if required.

Here is everything you need to know about the finale of this year’s Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup.

Tennis: Billie Jean King Cup finals 2025 - full schedule, all matches and results

2025 Billie Jean King Cup finals - Can Jessica Pegula guide USA to glory? The big names playing for their nation

The USA were always going to have a strong roster – five of the top 20 ranked WTA players are American – as they are led by world no. 7 Jessica Pegula, a back-to-back US Open semi-finalist who is set for her first BJK Cup appearance in 17 months.

Former top 10 player Emma Navarro is one to watch in the no. 2 singles spot, while doubles world no. 1 Taylor Townsend makes for a sound lineup all round for Team USA, who take on Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals.

Despite lots of big names dropping out of the finals, including home hero and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, there are still plenty of stars on show. Stepping up in Zheng’s absence is Wang Xinyu, the 23-year-old who brought home an Olympic medal to China in the mixed doubles event at Paris 2024.

They meet reigning champions Italy who can also rely on Olympic superpower, boasting the women’s doubles champions in Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. Errani comes off the back of claiming the mixed doubles championship title at the US Open, while Paolini is one of three top-10 singles players in Shenzhen.

Along with Pegula and Paolini, that top-10 trio is completed by Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, a Grand Slam winner at Wimbledon 2022. Ukraine will have high hopes with their singles duo of Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Elina Svitolina and star-in-the-making Marta Kostyuk. They take on Spain and former world no. 2 Paula Badosa.

The last quarter-final tie takes place between Japan and Great Britain – originally touted between Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu respectively, before both players withdrew.

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