FED CUP FACTS AND FIGURES First round, 11-12 February 2017

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 107 nations have entered the competition in 2017, with over 300 players set to take part.

FED CUP IS OVER 50 YEARS OLD 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 55th year.

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 are also taking place this week: Europe/Africa Zone Group I (8-11 February, , ); Americas Zone Group I (6-11 February, Metepec, Mexico); and Asia/Oceania Zone Group I (9-11 February, Astana, Kazkahstan).

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

Czech Republic v Spain, Ostrava (hard – indoors) USA v German, Maui, Hawaii (hard – outdoors) Belarus v Netherlands, Minsk (hard – indoors) Switzerland v Geneva, Geneva (hard – indoors)

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

Russia v Chinese Taipei, (hard – indoors) Romania v Belgium, Bucharest (hard – indoors) v Australia, Kharkiv (hard – indoors) Italy v , Forli (clay – indoors)

The four World Group first round winners will contest the semifinals on 22-23 April.

Also on 22-23 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 14 February at 10:00 GMT. The seeds will be based on the new Fed Cup Nations Ranking of 13 February.

The deadline for confirmation of future venues is 27 February for the World Group semifinals, and 7 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 13th 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 2017, thanks to an understanding between the ITF and WTA. The ITF is currently discussing future calendar dates 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 regular sets 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.

In 2017, six Fed Cup Heart Awards will be presented 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 will receive 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 over 1.3 million visits, 730,000 unique visitors and over 6 million page views in 2016. 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 over 240,000 followers to these accounts.

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 It was a record-breaking year for Fed Cup by BNP Paribas television coverage in 2016, with the Final shown by 47 broadcasters across 159 territories. Fed Cup will be broadcast in 15 out of 16 nations (not Chinese Taipei) contesting the 2017 World Group and World Group II first round ties. There will also be coverage of all three zone group events.

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 Over 135,000 spectators attended Fed Cup ties in 2016. 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 13 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. is the current No. 1 nation.