ITF

2021 ITF Annual Review 40 MAJOR EVENTS the final rounds of the compe on, where the men's World Cup of Tennis Champion team will be crowned. Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas in 2020/2021 The ITF staged a welcome return to the re-branded Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas (formerly Fed Cup) last year, which, like the Davis Cup, saw the annual event held across 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. We made changes to the event in 2020 following consulta on with na ons, players and other stakeholders. These included the all-new rebrand and the announcement that the Billie Jean King Cup Finals would award the biggest annual prize fund in women's team sports. Enhancing the profile of the elite women's team event in its new era is a key part of the ITF's Advantage All gender equality programme The amendments to the Davis Cup announced in 2019 included that the Finals would be held across one week at the end of the season to give the event the revamped World Cup- style spectacle it deserves, plus more opportuni es for teams to compete in the top level of the compe on. Working with our partner, Kosmos Tennis, the changes were made following extensive consulta on with players, our member Na onal Associa ons, Regional Associa ons and all other stakeholders to ensure the future viability of the compe on, whilst maintaining its rich history, which spans over 100 years. As such, home-and-away es con nue to be played as part of the overall compe on, with the changes ensuring increased opportuni es for players and fans and that the unique atmosphere of the compe on is maintained. The future of the Davis Cup: more na ons, more fans, be er playing schedule To ensure the changes to the Davis Cup compe on remain posi ve for all stakeholders, the ITF, together with Kosmos Tennis and the en re global tennis family, are maintaining ongoing consulta on and opportunity for input. Players have since suggested they want to avoid a late season finish. As such, from 2022 the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals will take place two months earlier, in September, to ease pressure on player schedules. For the eight teams that reach the quarter-finals, November's ac on will finish one week earlier than previously. This year will also see even more na ons given the chance to host the group stages, which will be held across four venues instead of three from 2022, with each venue hos ng four teams. The compe on will then culminate with the knock-out stage of the Davis Cup Finals, quarter-finals onwards, taking place in Malaga in November, adding a fi h venue to Despite Covid-19 disrup on, the compe on… • Saw a record 107 na ons take part, an increase of 14 from the previous year • Featured 15 es and nine regional group events • Included in the Finals three former Grand Slam women's singles champions, the Tokyo 2020 women's gold medallists in singles and doubles, and four of the top five women's doubles players • A racted a cumula ve crowd of 30,000 to the Finals in Prague and a total dedicated TV viewership of 38 million, spanning more markets across the world than ever before Billie Jean King Cup 2020/2021 in numbers

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