Billie Jean King Cup Finals draw: Reigning champions Italy among teams to find out pathway to glory in Shenzhen

The draw for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals is out with defending champions Italy among the eight nations finding out their fate for the final event set to be played at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre Arena in China from 22-27 September.

After the earlier qualifying rounds, eight nations have set themselves from the rest in a bid to come out on top for their country. The finals follow the North American hardcourt swing with the US Open concluding nine days before the tournament, giving players sufficient rest time before they represent their country on the biggest stage ahead of the Asian swing.

Reigning champions and number one seed Italy will take on the hosts China in a highly anticipated tie. On paper the Italians are the overwhelming favourites with Jasmine Paolini leading the field. While not at her overall best, she still possesses a huge amount of quality on court and will be hoping that she improves ahead of leading her country to Shenzhen.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto is likely to also line up in the singles with Sara Errani a valuable doubles asset. She and Paolini have teamed up to great effect with them having won the prior two events. China will pose a threat with a partisan crowd set to rally their players.

Ukraine caused a surprise last year after reaching the semi-final stage for the very first time. With Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk in their ranks, the sky is the limit as they look to seal another impressive run. They will take on Belgium who stunned the USA in qualifying. The winner will either face Italy or China in the last four.

Into the bottom half of the draw, and Kazakhstan led by the world number two Elena Rybakina will play host to Spain. Kazakhstan proved to be effective without the two-time Grand Slam champion after defeating Canada with Spain a looming threat with some effective players set to compete. The five-time winners have not clinched silverware since 1998 or even reached a final since 2008.

The final tie sees Great Britain look to follow on from their incredible underdog win over Australian Down Under against Czech Republic. The British team made the trip to Melbourne without Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal or Francesca Jones for a variety of reasons. Still, they were able to take down a full-strength Australian outfit in phenomenal fashion.

Czech Republic bestow great depth in both singles and doubles. Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova will be handy players to utilise while Katerina Siniakova is coming off the back of winning an 11th women's Grand Slam doubles tournament, a fourth at Roland Garros.