For this edition, the format of the cup was changed.[1] The main modification is the World Group taking place at one location and in one week, with twelve teams divided in four round-robin groups of three teams each, with the winners of each group advancing to the semi-finals. The series between the teams in this stage featured two singles matches and one doubles match. As the World Group takes place as one single tournament, the event has been named the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The lower zone groups I, II and III were composed of round-robin group play deciding promotion or relegation.
This edition was played over two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic: The Finals were originally scheduled to be held 17 to 18 April 2020 but were postponed to the following year and finally took place in November 2021.
In accordance with the ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and a December 2020 decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the team from RTF was not permitted to use the Russian name, flag, or anthem; it participated in the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Finals as the team of the RTF (RTF), and used the flag of the RTF.
Sixteen teams played for eight spots in the Finals, in series decided on a home and away basis.[1]
These sixteen teams were:
2 losing semifinalists of the previous edition,
7 winners & losers of World Group play-offs of previous edition, and
4 winners of World Group II play-offs of previous edition, and
3 losers of World Group II play-offs of previous edition, based on rankings
The 8 losing teams from the qualifying round played the new play-offs, which ranked the 8 nations that were promoted from the Regional Group I from Americas, Europe/Africa and Asia/Oceania, to see who had to play the 2022 Qualifiers and who stayed in the Regional Group I in 2022.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event in Sri Lanka could not be held. The Billie Jean King Cup committee decided that in light of the challenges of identifying and appointing a new host nation during the remainder of the 2021 tennis season, the event would take place in 2021. The seven competing nations, Hong Kong China, Iran, Malaysia, Oman, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Vietnam, remained in Asia/Oceania Group II, and they competed in the 2022 competition.
Bold denotes the mandatory tournaments (WTA 1000) † – Tournaments are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic * – Tournaments are introduced due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic