A record-breaking year for the women’s and men’s World Cup of Tennis | ITF
Press release 08 Dec 2023

A record-breaking year for the women’s and men’s World Cup of Tennis

08 Dec 2023

2023 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge and Davis Cup – By the Numbers

The 2023 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge and Davis Cup seasons came to an end in November, with Canada’s women’s team claiming victory at the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals in Seville before the Italian men’s team were crowned as world champions at the Davis Cup Final 8 Knockout Stage in Malaga.

It has been another historic year for the women’s and men’s World Cup of Tennis, with more than 1,500 athletes competing and reaching fans in more than 150 nations around the world. Both winning teams earned a record $2.4 million (USD) in player prize money as a result of their triumphs in Andalucia.

The 2024 season, which begins with the Davis Cup Qualifiers on 2-4 February and Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers on 12-13 April, promises further growth.

David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “2023 has been a great year for both the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge and the Davis Cup, which culminated with the fantastic November Finals events in Seville and Malaga. The figures released today clearly show that the competitions are as popular as ever with players and nations, as well as fans across the world who have travelled to support their teams and engaged with us online in such huge numbers. We thank our hosts at the Region of Andalucia and all our partners for helping to make both events so successful, and we are already working on making them even better in 2024.”

Arturo Bernal, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports at the Junta de Andalucía, said: “2023 has been historic for Andalusian tennis, with great prominence and great international impact, due to the celebration in our community of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville, the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga and both competitions in the junior category in Córdoba. We are convinced that next year will also be the same, and that is why we work in the Andalusian Government to bring the best sports events to Andalusia.”

World Champions

  • Canada won their first Billie Jean King Cup title after defeating Italy 2-0 on Sunday 12 November thanks to singles victories for Marina Stakusic and Leylah Fernandez.
  • The Canadians were making their first appearance in the final and became the 13th nation to win the Billie Jean King Cup.
  • Fernandez won all 5 matches she contested in Seville, including her singles match against Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and a decisive doubles match in the semi-final against Czechia.
  • Italy won their second Davis Cup title after defeating Australia 2-0 on Sunday 26 November after singles wins for Matteo Arnaldi and Jannik Sinner.
  • Italy became the 11th nation to win the Davis Cup title on multiple occasions – their only previous triumph came in 1976, when they defeated Chile in Santiago.
  • Sinner won all 5 matches he contested in Malaga, including saving three match points in victory against Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and winning decisive doubles matches in both the quarter-final against Netherlands and semi-final against Serbia.
  • As a result of their title triumphs, Canada and Italy rose to No. 1 in the year-end Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup nations rankings, respectively.
  • Both world champion teams were awarded record player prize money of $2.4 million (USD), with Canada’s women’s team presented their prize money cheque by Dan Towriss, CEO of Billie Jean King Cup title partner Gainbridge

Players

  • 59 players were selected to compete for their nations at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
  • Of the 59 players, there were 10 former Billie Jean King Cup champions, 5 Grand Slam singles champions and a further 3 Grand Slam singles finalists.
  • Seven players made their Billie Jean King Cup debuts at the 2023 Finals – including Canada’s Stakusic, who won three of the four matches she played en route to becoming a world champion.
  • 39 players were nominated for their nations at the 2023 Davis Cup Final 8 Knockout Stage.
  • Of the 39 players, there were 5 former Davis Cup champions and one Grand Slam champion, world No. 1 Djokovic.

Nations, ties and events

  • A record 135 nations (651 players) competed in Billie Jean King Cup – previous record 118 nations (2022)
  • A record 156 nations (839 players) competed in Davis Cup – previous record 145 nations (2022)
  • There were 17 home-and-away Billie Jean King Cup ties played this year – across April’s Qualifiers and November’s Play-offs – while there were 11 events played at regional group level.
  • There were 60 home-and-away Davis Cup ties played in 2023 – across the Qualifiers, World Group I and World Group II – as well as 10 events played at regional group level.
  • The Davis Cup Finals were held across five cities for the second time, with four cities hosting the Finals Group Stage in September and Malaga hosting the Final 8 in November.
  • The region of Andalucia hosted four ITF world championship events – in addition to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville and the Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga, both the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals and the Davis Cup Juniors Finals were held in Cordoba.

Fans at the Finals

  • 17,656 fans attended the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville – a 35% increase on 2022 in Glasgow. Centre Court in Seville had at least 70% fan occupancy throughout the week
  • 60,753 fans attended the 2023 Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga – at least 90% fan occupancy all week

Broadcasters

  • TV viewership for the Billie Jean King Cup in Canada and Australia rose by more than 150% compared to 2022 and rose by more than 400% compared to 2022 in Italy.
  • Semi-final viewership for Czechia’s Billie Jean King Cup semi-final tie rose by more than 60% compared the team’s semi-final tie in 2022.
  • 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals and Davis Cup Final 8 were shown by more than 40 broadcasters in over 150 territories across the world.

NB full viewing figures for the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals and 2023 Davis Cup Finals will be available in due course.

Online engagement

  • Billie Jean King Cup website audience up 350% and total page views up 415% during 2023 Finals compared to 2022.
  • 22% increase in total video views on Billie Jean King Cup social media compared to the 2022 Finals.
  • Davis Cup website audience up 56% and total page views up 94% during 2023 Final 8 compared to 2022.
  • 6 million engagements across Davis Cup social media channels during 2023 Final 8 – a 406% increase on 2022.