FED CUP FACT SHEET First Round, 10-11 February 2018

OVERVIEW Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of and the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport. A total of 99 nations have entered the competition in 2018, with over 300 players set to take part. Fed Cup celebrated its 50th birthday in the ITF’s centenary year in 2013, having been launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ITF. The competition is now in its 56th year.

NEW FOR 2018 All singles and doubles matches will be played over three tiebreak sets in 2018 as part of a trial approved by the ITF Board.

The two finalists in Fed Cup are now guaranteed the choice of hosting their first round tie in the following year as part of a change to the Fed Cup regulations.

TIES This weekend sees the four first round ties in both the World Group and World Group II. The three regional Zone Group I events and one regional Zone Group II event are also taking place this week: Europe/Africa Zone Group I (7-10 February, , ); Americas Zone Group I (7-10 February, Asuncion, Paraguay); Asia/Oceania Zone Group I (7-10 February, New Delhi, India); and Asia/Oceania Zone Group II (6-10 February, Isa Town, Bahrain).

Details of the World Group first round ties in draw order are as follows:

Belarus v Germany, Minsk (hard – indoors) v Switzerland, Prague (hard – indoors) France v Belgium, La Roche-sur-Yon (hard – indoors) USA v Netherlands, Asheville, North Carolina (hard – indoors)

Details of the World Group II first round ties are as follows:

Slovakia v Russia, (hard – indoors) Australia v , Canberra (grass – outdoors) Romania v Canada, Cluj-Napoca (hard – indoors) Italy v Spain, Chieti (clay – indoors)

The four World Group first round winners will contest the semifinals on 21-22 April.

Also on 21-22 April, the four World Group first round losers will contest the World Group play-offs alongside the four World Group II first round winners. On the same weekend, the four World Group II first round losers will contest the World Group II play-offs alongside the four qualifiers from the Zone Group I events (two from Europe/Africa, one from Asia/Oceania and one from Americas).

ANNOUNCEMENTS The draw for the World Group play-offs and World Group II play-offs will be held at the ITF offices in London on Tuesday 13 February at 10:00 GMT. The seeds will be based on the new Fed Cup Nations Ranking of 12 February.

The deadline for confirmation of future venues is 26 February for the World Group semifinals, and 6 March for the World Group play-offs and World Group II play-offs.

SPONSORS The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup, now entering its 14th year of title sponsorship. Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) is an international sponsor, while beIN SPORTS is the Official Global Media Rights Partner.

CALENDAR DATES Fed Cup has fixed dates in the women’s tennis calendar through 2018, thanks to an understanding between the ITF and WTA. The ITF and its member nations see a 16-team World Group in Fed Cup as a key priority beyond 2018. The ITF is currently discussing future calendar dates and format with the WTA.

DEAD RUBBER POLICY A dead rubber policy has been in place at all Fed Cup ties since 2013. If a tie is decided after the third singles rubber, the fourth singles will not be played (unless both nations want to), and the dead doubles rubber will be played instead. If the fourth singles decides the tie, the dead doubles rubber will still be played. All dead doubles rubbers will be two sets with No-Ad scoring plus a match tiebreak. This was in response to requests from players, captains and National Associations, while maintaining the spectator experience on the Sunday.

HAWK-EYE OFFICIATING SYSTEM Electronic line-calling review is currently used in all rounds of the World Group, plus World Group II and the World Group Play-offs. Hawk-Eye is only used on hard and grass courts.

FED CUP HEART AWARD The Fed Cup Heart Award, launched in 2009, is an ITF initiative that honours the distinction, courage and commitment to the team that it takes to succeed in Fed Cup. The award is voted for by members of the public via the Fed Cup website.

Six Fed Cup Heart Awards will be presented in 2018 after the following rounds: World Group and World Group II first round, World Group semifinals, World Group and World Group II play-offs, and the three Zone Group I events. Each winner received a cheque to be donated to their chosen charity.

FED CUP WEBSITE There are two versions of the official Fed Cup website, in English (www.fedcup.com) and Spanish (www.fedcup.com/es). The websites will feature live scoring, a live blog, reports, photographs, audio interviews and exclusive video content. The website recorded more than 1 million visits and more than 4.5 million page views in 2017. Fans are also able to keep up-to-date with all the latest Fed Cup news on Twitter and Facebook in both English and Spanish, and on Chinese social media, with more than 250,000 followers to these accounts.

FED CUP LIVE CENTRE AND LIVE STREAMING The ITF, in partnership with Sportradar, launched a new live centre and live streaming platform in 2017, offering enhanced coverage of the competition. Fans now have the ability to purchase coverage ranging from individual ties to a whole round of ties, or an annual package covering all rounds of Fed Cup and Davis Cup. In parallel, a desktop live scoring centre and redesigned dedicated mobile app for Fed Cup was also launched offering more in-depth statistics across all ties. These features were also launched for Davis Cup in 2017.

SHOW YOUR COLOURS In 2014 the ITF launched Show Your Colours, a new fan-focused campaign to promote Davis Cup and Fed Cup as the world cups of tennis. The campaign acts as a platform to increase awareness of the competitions, help better tell their stories and drive engagement with fans. To date, the campaign has been used by over 80 nations globally at more than 350 events. Building on the unique team nature of both competitions, Show Your Colours uses branding elements and activation ideas for promotion, in-stadium experience and social media activity.

TELEVISION There will be extensive TV coverage of all Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and World Group II ties this week. This follows a record-breaking year for Fed Cup TV coverage in 2017, with the Final shown by 45 broadcasters across 158 territories.

In 2015, the ITF signed a seven-year strategic media rights partnership with beIN SPORTS for Davis Cup and Fed Cup to increase the global exposure and quality of the coverage of both competitions.

ATTENDANCE More than 139,000 spectators attended Fed Cup ties in 2017 – the second highest on record. Recent years have seen larger stadiums and increased attendance.

ITF FED CUP NATIONS RANKING The new ITF Fed Cup Nations Ranking will be published on Monday 12 February and will include results from the weekend’s ties. The Ranking is published on the Monday following every Fed Cup World Group round, and is based on a nation’s performances in the competition over a four-year period. All nations competing in Fed Cup from World Group through to Zone Group III are ranked. Czech Republic is the current No. 1 nation.