Davis Cup and BJK Cup to change format in 2025

Both the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup are to undergo further format change next year, as announced by the International Tennis Federation.

Starting from the 2025 season, the Davis Cup will see a partial return to the classic home-or-away knockout ties that formed the tournament’s structure for much of its 124-year history.

Following a contentious partnership with footballer Gerard Pique’s company Kosmos between 2018 and 2023, during which the tournament underwent sweeping format changes, the classic knockout structure was replaced by a group stage – consisting of four groups of four – played in September, followed by an eight-team Finals event in November.

These reforms have been largely unpopular with fans and players alike, leading to nations playing each other in neutral venues with sparse crowds, while the tournament has also suffered commercially as a result.

But the ITF have now announced that the September group stages, currently played in four different locations across six days, will be replaced with seven home-or-away ties played across two days. This is a partial reversion to the classic knockout format, although the Final Eight event taking place in one city will remain.

The winner of each knockout tie in September will qualify for the Final Eight, joining the host nation for the showpiece event in November.

It is hoped that the revival of knockout ties will help ease player workload in an already highly congested tennis calendar.

“Moving the Davis Cup September stage from six-day group stage events to two-day home or away ties will ease players’ schedules immediately following the US Open, while maintaining the intensity of the competition that they all love,” said president of the International Tennis Federation, David Haggerty.

In an attempt to bring the women’s and men’s international team competitions in closer alignment with one another, the ITF also announced that the Billie Jean King Cup Finals will transition away from the 12-team event that is currently in place, to be replaced with an eight-nation final as exists in the Davis Cup.

To make this transition possible, the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers will be played across seven group events next April, consisting of three teams per group. Each three-day event will be held in one location and played on a round-robin basis, with the seven group winners joining a host nation in the 2025 Finals. Home-or-away ties will then return in the qualifiers from 2026 onwards.

“Today’s news is another positive step forward for both the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge and Davis Cup, and I am excited for the future of both competitions,” Haggerty added.

“The format amendments aim to build on the success we have seen across both events in recent years and contributes towards our long-term ambition to bring them more in sync under the World Cup of Tennis banner.”

It remains to be seen what effect these changes will have on the future commercial appeal of the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, which have both struggled in recent years to garner the traction that these historic competitions deserve.

But the return of knockout ties will likely come as welcome news to players who have bemoaned a loss of atmosphere in the Davis Cup since 2019’s format change, while the streamlined structure may also help to entice more leading players to commit to the September round of matches.

Tournament organisers will hope this can, in turn, attract more fans back to the live action with the aim of achieving the sell-out, partisan crowds that international team tennis was once long renowned for.

Frankly, this sounds like a very welcome and sensible move.

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