Billie Jean King Cup: The 8 Finalists are set for Shenzhen 2025

The Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers were the main women’s event of the week, with stars such as Elena Rybakina and Bernarda Pera among the key players who helped secure qualification for their nations. Six countries earned a spot in the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, to be held in Shenzhen this September.

Following the Round Robin format—featuring six groups of three countries—the full line-up for the Finals has been completed. The newly qualified teams join defending champions Italy and hosts China (wildcards). The event also saw major surprises, including the early exits of Canada and the Czech Republic.

Th Group was marked by the elimination of Canada in the final match of the day, a doubles showdown where Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara defeated Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino (6-3, 5-7, 6-2), in what was the most epic group-stage finale of these Qualifiers. Both nations had previously swept Romania 3-0 in earlier ties, so their head-to-head encounter on the indoor hardcourts of Tokyo was decisive. Japan secured a spot among the tournament's top 8, despite not having Naomi Osaka or any player ranked inside the Top 50.

After two intensive ties, the Group B went in favour of Spain, who were without Paula Badosa but featured a remarkable performance by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who claimed two of the best wins of her career against Beatriz Haddad Maia (No. 17) and Linda Noskova (No. 33). Group top seed Haddad Maia could do little for her country, with Brazil winning just one of its six matches played.

USA eventually topped Group C, despite the massive absence of its star players. With five players in the Top 20 and ten in the Top 50, none attended the tournament. The absence of Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff or Madison Keys was expected to be costly at this stage, but the Americans were almost unstoppable. Their representatives were Bernarda Pera (No. 76, American No. 14) and Hailey Baptiste (No. 86, American No. 16), both with two singles wins, which led to the elimination of Slovakia (2024 finalists) and Denmark – the latter without Clara Tauson.

Kazakhstan also secured qualification on the opening day, fielding their two top-ranked players: Elena Rybakina (No. 10) and Yulia Putintseva (No. 23). Both capitalised on their favourite status against lower-ranked opponents and won both of their singles matches, allowing them to reach the decisive doubles stages with ease in both ties against Australia and Colombia.

Ukraine also clinched early qualification, thanks to having their full team present: Elina Svitolina (No. 18), Marta Kostyuk (No. 25), and doubles world No. 9 Lyudmila Kichenok. The absence of Iga Swiatek for Poland and Belinda Bencic for Switzerland made the path significantly easier for the Ukrainians.

Only one of the six seeded teams managed to qualify: Great Britain, who won Group F against the Netherlands and Germany on the first day. Just days before the start of the Qualifiers, they suffered the withdrawal of Emma Raducanu, the usual British No. 2 when fit and a key player in reaching the semifinals last year. The standout performer was Sonay Kartal (No. 59) – who stepped in for Raducanu – winning both of her singles matches against Jule Niemeier (No. 121) and Eva Vedder (No. 264).

It was a qualifying round full of surprises, with several top contenders being unexpectedly knocked out. The Qualifiers were notably marked by the absence of several major stars from their respective countries, which ultimately weakened their chances. This included Iga Swiatek, Leylah Fernandez, and Karolina Muchova.

The Czech team was without its most prominent players. Their top two currently ranked players couldn’t participate due to injuries: Karolina Muchova (No. 12) and Barbora Krejcikova (No. 15), as well as 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova (No. 48). They also missed the presence of doubles world No. 1 Katerina Siniakova (No. 56 in singles). Led by Linda Noskova (No. 33) and Marie Bouzkova (No. 57), the losses in both singles rubbers against Spain ultimately cost them qualification.

2023 champions Canada were also without their leader of recent years, Leylah Fernandez, who had led them to the title in 2023. Additionally, they were missing Rebecca Marino (No. 106) and former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. As a result, it was up to the young Marina Stakusic (No. 137, 20 years old) and Victoria Mboko (No. 157, 18 years old) to face a tough tie.

Poland's participation was already under scrutiny from the start, after the withdrawals of Iga Swiatek (No. 2) and Magdalena Frech (No. 28), which proved costly. Especially so when Magda Linette (No. 33) was forced to miss the tie against Ukraine in the second fixture.

Two nations had already secured their spots in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The first is defending champions Italy, who claimed their 5th title in the tournament, taking revenge for their loss in the 2023 final. With 2-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini as the star of the team, playing as the No. 1 singles player and also teaming up in doubles with her usual Tour partner Sara Errani. Paolini’s victory over Rebecca Sramkova in the final was the decisive moment that saw Italy win the title again after 11 years and secure their place in the 2025 Finals.

The second nation already qualified this year is China, who received a wildcard as the host team of the tournament, which will be held in Shenzhen, the same venue that hosted the 2019 WTA Finals. The Asian team is competitive nonetheless, led by Zheng Qinwen (No. 8), the current Olympic Games gold medallist, along with world No. 41 Xinyu Wang. Their best performance came in 2008, when Li Na and Peng Shuai led the team to the semifinals.