This year's Billie Jean King Cup has a record-setting $9.6M purse

The GIST: The World Cup of women’s tennis is underway in Seville, Spain, with 12 nations battling for the title and a piece of the record-setting $9.6M purse. That sum is equal to what’s on the line at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals, the male-equivalent tournament. And that’s on gender parity.

How it works: The 12 teams are split into four groups of three and are currently facing off in round-robin opening group-stage play. Each country vs. country showdown consists of two singles matches and one doubles match, and each match win is worth one point.

• The four countries with the most points in their respective groups advance to Saturday's semifinals, and those semis winners will meet in Sunday’s final. So speedy.

Top teams: Team USA is fighting for their record-setting 19th championship but are missing two stars on their quest — world No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 5 Jessica Pegula, who just competed in the WTA Finals. However, the red, white, and blue still have two Grand Slam champs on the roster in Spain: No. 12 Madison Keys and No. 33 Sofia Kenin.

• Also in contention for the crown? Czechia, who are led by 2023 Wimbledon champion No. 7 Markéta Vondroušová. The 24-year-old has an astounding 12-1 record at this tourney, which Czechia has won 11 times. Talk about serving.