LONDON – International women’s team tennis competition the Billie Jean King Cup has unveiled the full lineup for its upcoming November playoffs, with the 18-time title-winning United States set to take on Hungary on home soil as it works to rebuild its momentum in the tournament.
The U.S. squad, which advanced to the tournament’s final in 2024 for the first time in six years, suffered a surprising 3-1 defeat to Belgium in this year’s qualifying round earlier this month, knocking it out of contention for the 2025 finals and sending it to the playoff round.
Hungary is expected to field rising star Anna Bondár, a consistent Billie Jean King Cup competitor who notched a career-defining victory at the Madrid Open on Thursday. Bondár defeated world No. 7 Elina Svitolina, marking the first time a Hungarian female player has beaten a top-10 ranked opponent since Timea Babos’ 2018 win over Coco Vandeweghe.
Thursday’s official draw ceremony confirmed the full slate of November playoff matchups. France will host Australia in a rematch of the 2019 Billie Jean King Cup final, which France claimed on Australian soil in Perth; it will be the first time the two nations have faced off since that 2019 title clash. 2023 tournament champion Canada will travel to South America to face Brazil. Other pairings include Poland against Sweden, Japan clashing with Argentina, Thailand hosting Switzerland, and Slovenia taking on Indonesia.
The stakes for the playoffs are clear: all winning squads will secure a spot in the 2027 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, while losing teams will be relegated to regional competition for the 2026 season.
Seven nations have already secured their spots in the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup finals, including qualifying victor Belgium, defending champion Italy, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine. China, as the host nation for this year’s finals, qualified for the event automatically.