2020 Davis Cup and Fed Cup postponed until 2021

Johanna Konta (Photo: Marianne Bevis)

The International Tennis Federation has announced that the 2020 Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals and 2020 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals have been postponed until 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.

The entire tennis tour has been on hold since the first week of March, and brought the cancellation of The Championships at Wimbledon, the entire clay and grass seasons, and also the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021.

The Davis Cup was set to see the world’s best 18 national teams, including Great Britain, competing for the title in Madrid from 23 to 29 November 2020. The event was due to host more than 90 athletes with significant support teams, as well as thousands of fans, officials, and other stakeholders travelling from countries across the world, each at a different stage in dealing with coronavirus pandemic. The Finals will now take place in Madrid in the week commencing 22 November 2021.

The same 18 teams will compete at the rescheduled Finals in 2021, with the draw remaining as published. In addition, the 24 home-and-away World Group I and II ties involving 48 national teams due to be played in September will be postponed until 2021, with ties to be played in either March or September. The 2020 regional Group III and IV events, in which 76 national teams are entered, are also postponed until 2021.

The Fed Cup was due to be played in April this year before its postponement along with the rest of the tennis tour. It was to present a new-look format comprising 12 of the world’s best national teams competing over an entire week. The competition has now been rescheduled for 13-18 April 2021, to be played on indoor clay courts at the Laszlo Papp Arena in Budapest, Hungary. The draw for the Finals remains as published.

The 2020 Fed Cup Play-offs, which were also due to take place in April 2020, will now be played in February 2021.