Fed Cup Finals Predictions & Betting tips
Find the best tennis tips for the revamped 2020 Fed Cup Finals.
2020 Fed Cup Finals
This event was due to take place in April but will not be held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 finals will be held in Hungary from 13-18 April.
The Fed Cup was first competed for in 1963 and is the World Cup of women’s tennis. It was initially called the Federation Cup but since 1996 that title has been shortened to the Fed Cup. It is the female equivalent of the Davis Cup but just as that event was given a new format last year, the same has happened to this event.
Rather than the event being held throughout the year, the top teams competing in the World Group will decide the Fed Cup winners at one location over a single week with France hoping to successfully defend the title they won last year. This will be known as the Fed Cup Finals and was scheduled to take place from April 14-19 on clay courts at the Budapest Sports Arena in Hungary. A new date has yet to be announced after its postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
12 countries will take part in the finals being divided into four round-robin groups of three. The group winners then go into the semi-finals. Matches will comprise of two singles matches and one doubles match.
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Rankings
France top the Fed Cup rankings, the top 16 in the ranking list are:
- France
- Czech Republic
- USA
- Australia
- Belarus
- Romania
- Germany
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- Great Britain
- Latvia
- Canada
- Japan
- Slovakia
- Russia
Recent Winners
- 2019 - France
- 2018 - Czech Republic
- 2017 - USA
- 2016 - Czech Republic
- 2015 - Czech Republic
- 2014 - Czech Republic
- 2013 - Italy
- 2012 - Czech Republic
The USA have the most wins in the Fed Cup with a total of 18 victories ahead of the Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic with 11 wins (six this century). Australia have won the title on seven occasions but lost 11 finals.
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Qualifying
This is one of the major changes in the format of the Fed Cup. The finals are comprised of four groups of three with the winner of each group going through to the semi-finals. February began with the qualifying matches taking place with eight teams guaranteed to reach the finals. They join defending champions France, 2019 losing finalists Australia, hosts Hungary and the Czech Republic who have been given wild card places.
Results
- Netherlands 2 Belarus 3
- Romania 2 Russia 3
- Brazil 0 Germany 4
- Spain 3 Japan 1
- Switzerland 3 Canada 1
- Belgium 3 Kazakhstan 1
- Slovakia 3 Great Britain 1
- USA 3 Latvia 2
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Group Draw for the Fed Cup Finals
Group A - France, Russia and Hungary
Group B - Australia, Belarus and Belgium
Group C - USA, Spain and Slovakia
Group D - Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland
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The Contenders
France
Last year saw France win the Fed Cup for the first time since 2003 and only the third time in their history. The final saw them travel to Australia and came away with the trophy after a 3-2 victory. The team of Kristen Mladenovic, Carolina Garcia and Pauline Parmentier were victorious despite only Mladenovic winning a singles match. Australia's Ashleigh Barty won her first singles match against Carolina Garcia without losing a game but then lost in three sets to Mladenovic. With the score 2-2, the team of Mladenovic and Garcia beat Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur in straight sets to win the title. They are automatically through to the finals and are likely again to have Mladenovic (37th in the world at the time of writing) and Garcia (46th) as their singles players.
Australia
Australia lost in that final last year and will be out to win the title this time around. They won this title seven times between 1968 and 1974 in the glory days of players such as Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong. 1975-1980 saw them lose in the final in each of those years. 2019 saw them back in the final after a gap of 26 years but they were again defeated. They are automatically in the finals and again world number one Ashleigh Barty will be hoping to finally see them win the title again. Other likely players in their squad will be Ajla Tomljanovic (currently ranked 57th) and Samantha Stosur.
Place a bet on Australia at Bet365
USA
No country has won the Fed Cup more times than the USA. They have won the title on 18 occasions but not only once since 2000. That was three years ago and last year, they were knocked out by Australia in the quarter finals. Sofia Kenin and Madison Keys were their singles players last year and Kenin will be back this year but as a Grand Slam winner. They also have Coco Gauff in their squad as well as top doubles player Bethany Mattek-Sands, who reached the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open this year.
Bet on the USA at William Hill
Czech Republic
One wild card was available for the finals and it went to the Czech Republic. It must have been close between them and the USA for that wildcard but the Czechs have had great success in the Fed Cup in the last decade. They won the title every year between 2011 and 2018 bar 2013 and 2017. Last year saw them lose in the quarter finals when being beaten by Romania, their first home loss since 2019. Their team will be spearheaded by current world number three Karolina Pliskova. They also have Petra Kvitova (11th) and Marketa Vondrousova (17th) so will be fielding a strong team in the finals.
