The 2001 Fed Cup was the 39th edition of the most important competition between national teams in women's tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

. The World Group was reduced to 8 teams, divided into two pools, with the winners meeting in the finals. 90 nations participated in the tournament. The World Group was held at the Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, from 7-11 November. In the final, Belgium

Belgium Fed Cup team

The Belgian Fed Cup team has been competing in the International Tennis Federation sanctioned Fed Cup since the very beginning: 1963. It has won the competition once, in 2001...

 defeated Russia

Russia Fed Cup team

The Russia Fed Cup team represents Russia in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Russian Tennis Federation. They currently compete in the World Group.- Current Team :* Maria Sharapova * Elena Vesnina...

, giving Belgium their first title.

World Group Play-offs

• France, Argentina, Russia, and Australia advance to World Group
• Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden, Hungary, and Austria play in World Group in 2002.
• Venezuela, Japan, Israel, and Indonesia play in Zonal Group I in 2002.

Note: Germany, as the highest-ranked of the 2nd round losers in the ITF's Fed Cup rankings, replaced the United States in the World Group after the US withdrew citing security risks following the September 11 attacks. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/fedcup/2001-10-27-germany.htm

World Group

All ties were played at the Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I, Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, on indoor clay courts.
Pool A

1. — advanced to final

Pool B

1. — advanced to final

Final

Group I

Participating Teams — relegated to Group II in 2002 — relegated to Group II in 2002 — advanced to World Group Play-offs

Group I

Participating Teams — advanced to World Group Play-offs — relegated to Group II in 2002 — relegated to Group II in 2002

Group I

Participating Teams — relegated to Group II in 2002 — relegated to Group II in 2002 — advanced to World Group Play-offs — relegated to Group II in 2002 — relegated to Group II in 2002 — advanced to World Group Play-offs

Group II

Participating Teams — promoted to Group I in 2002 — promoted to Group I in 2002 — promoted to Group I in 2002 — promoted to Group I in 2002