U.S. to face Spain, Slovakia in new-look 2020 Fed Cup Finals

Team USA's path to a record-extending 19th Fed Cup title includes group matches against rivals old and new, plus a potential semifinal showdown with the defending champions.

The U.S. will start its campaign against Spain and Slovakia in round-robin play and, should it advance, may need to beat both 2019 winners France and 2018 champs Czech Republic.

The new-look finals will take place in Budapest, Hungary, from April 14-19. For the first time, the finals will be a 12-team, week-long celebration of women's tennis, with the best players in the world looking to lead their nation to glory.

The 12 teams are made up of last year’s finalists, France and Australia,, host nation Hungary and one wildcard—the Czech Republic. The other eight teams were determined at the qualifying round of play which took part last weekend across the world.

The U.S. advanced with a 3-2 win over Latvia and, as one of the top-four teams in the world rankings after that tie, were seeded at Tuesday’s draw ceremony.

The U.S. is currently the No. 3 team in the Fed Cup rankings, behind only reigning champions France and 2019 runner-up Australia. As one of the top-four teams, the U.S. was unable to face another one of the three seeded teams until the semifinals, at the earliest.

Each of the four seeds were placed into one of the four groups. The U.S., as the No. 3 seed was placed in Group C. The next four-highest teams were drawn into those four groups, with the final four teams drawn after that.

Joining the U.S. in Group C are Spain and Slovakia, with each team set to face the other team in their group once in a round-robin format.

The U.S. owns an all-time 5-4 record against Spain, although it is 2-2 since the current format of the competition was adopted in 1995. Spain won the two matches held on red clay (in the 1995 final in Valencia and the 1998 semifinal in Madrid), with the U.S. sweeping the 1996 and 2000 finals on an indoor carpet courts in Atlantic City, N.J., and Las Vegas, Nev. Team USA has never played Slovakia. 

The top team from each of the four groups advances to the knockout phase of the tournament.

The winner of Group A plays the winner of Group C; the Winner of Group B plays the winner of Group D It means the U.S. could face France in the semifinals and possibly Czech Republic or Australia in the final, should the seeds all advance.

Should the U.S. progress and face other seeded nations in the knockout rounds, it is 12-2 lifetime against France and 10-3 all-time against the Czech Republic, the second-most successful nation in the Fed Cup behind the U.S.