Like last year, the tournament will feature several top 100 players. Expected to join Hungary’s own burgeoning star Timea Babos are young guns Heather Watson (Great Britain) and Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) and a trio of former world #1 players, including Belarus’ Victoria Azarenko, and Serbia’s dynamic duo of Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.
As a special treat for Hungarian tennis fans, Martina Hingis – recently elected into the Tennis Hall of Fame, five-time Grand Slam champion and one of the best players ever to play the sport – will make a special appearance on Saturday, February 7 to sign autographs.
Hungary will play host to 14 other European teams, including traditional tennis powerhouses such as Great Britain and Serbia, for the opportunity to be one of two teams to qualify for the prestigious World Group Division Two tournament next year. The Budapest Times has all you need to know about the Fed Cup – who is playing, when they play, how to get tickets and who to watch – right here in our handy Fed Cup Viewers’ Guide.
What is the Fed Cup?
The WTA Fed Cup, previously known as the Federations Cup, is the women’s equivalent to the Davis Cup – a competition that pits each country’s best players against each other in a series of singles and doubles matches to determine a champion. The tournament, now in its 53rd year, is the leading country vs. country tournament in women’s tennis. The current champion is the Czech Republic, who defeated Germany in a rubber last November.
The tournament is tiered, with the top 16 teams playing in two World Group tiers that see the top two singles players each play the opponent’s top two players with an additional doubles match.
The tournament in Budapest acts as the highest regional qualifier in the Europe / Africa zone. Matches consist of the top two players playing only one match each and a doubles match if a tiebreaker is needed. The two bottom teams in the tournament are relegated to Europe / Africa Division II. Only the first place team from each division has a chance to qualify for the World Group Two playoffs, and the four group winners will face each other here in Budapest on Saturday, February 7.
The winners of those matches advance to a playoff, to be played in July, against the first-round losers from World Group Two (winners of that playoff qualify for World Group Two in 2016). Budapest hosted last year’s regional qualifier as well and saw the Hungarian team place 5th following a 2-1 loss to Romania. Overall, Hungary has spent a total of 18 years in the World Group, including runs to the quarterfinals in 1963 and 1985. The young Hungarian squad will need to topple the 6th-ranked Serbian team if they hope to qualify again in 2016.
What’s happening in Budapest?
The tournament will feature some of the best women’s tennis players in the world – several ranked in the Top 100 and three former world #1s – playing for their home countries. All of the action will take place at the Syma Event and Congress Centre (1 Dózsa György St.), located conveniently next to Ferenc Pukás Stadium near the Stadion metro station on the Red Line.
Each day will be divided into morning sessions that begin at 10am and evening sessions that begin at 4pm. The preliminary round runs from Wednesday, February 4 to Friday, February 6 and the playoffs and placement matches take place on Saturday, February 7.
Special guest Martina Hingis will be in attendance on Saturday to sign autographs. Tickets run between HUF 500 (upper stands) and HUF 1990 (centre court, lower stands) for a daily pass, or between HUF 1500 (upper stands) and HUF 5990 (centre court, lower stands) for a tournament pass.
budapesttimes.hu
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