The 2008 Fed Cup (also known as the 2008 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas for sponsorship purposes) was the 46th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in women's tennis. 8 teams contested the World Group, and 85 teams competed in total. The final took place in Madrid, Spain, on 13-14 September, with Russia defeating Spain, 4-0, to retain the title.

The 4 losing teams in the World Group first round ties (Israel, France, Italy, and Germany), and 4 winners of the World Group II ties (Ukraine, Japan, Czech Republic, and Argentina) enter the draw for the World Group Play-offs. 4 seeded teams, based on the latest Fed Cup ranking, are drawn against 4 unseeded teams.

Date: 26-27 April

Date: 2-3 February

The four losing teams from World Group II (Croatia, Slovakia, Belgium and Austria) will play off against qualifiers from Zonal Group I. Two teams qualified from Europe/Africa Zone (Serbia and Switzerland), one team from the Asia/Oceania Zone (Uzbekistan), and one team from the Americas Zone (Colombia).

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мария Юрьевна Шарапова [mɐˈrʲijə ˈjurʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə] ( listen), US: /ʃɑrəˈpoʊvə/, UK: /ʃærəˈpoʊvə/; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and former world no. 1. A United States resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 26 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. She has also won the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2004. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked Sharapova world no. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, and last regained the ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. As of May 28, 2012, Sharapova is ranked world no. 2. She has been in six Grand Slam finals with the final record 3–3.

Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 at age 17, when she defeated two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title. She entered the top 10 of the WTA Rankings with the win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the no. 1 ranking, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals and world no. 2 Justine Henin in the final.

Tzipora "Tzipi" Obziler (Hebrew: ציפורה אובזילר‎) (born April 19, 1973, in Givatayim, Israel) is a former professional right-handed tennis player.

She reached her career-high singles world ranking of #75 in on July 8, 2007, and doubles ranking of #149 on April 10, 2000.

In Federation Cup she is a shared world record holder for most ties played, at 61. She is Jewish.

She has won 13 singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF circuit. Despite her late run, she played her best tennis over the last few years and qualified for several grand slam events.

She started playing tennis at age 10, with friends.

In 1997 she won ITF tournaments in singles in Jaffa and Antalya, Turkey. In 1998 she repeated in Jaffa.

In 1999 she won in Guimaraes, Portugal, and Azemeis, Portugal, and 2 tournaments in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2000 she won tournaments in Ashkelon and Beersheba in Israel.

In 2002 she won in Mumbai, India, and Nonthaburi, Thailand. In November she defeated world # 62 Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6–7(2), 6–3, 6–2 in France. In 2003 in India she had an upset win over world # 36 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6–2, 6–3.

Sabine Lisicki (/lɨˈzɪki/; born 22 September 1989 in Troisdorf) is a German professional tennis player.

Lisicki has won three WTA singles tournaments in her career (one in 2009 and two in 2011) and one doubles tournament (in 2011). She reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and also reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She achieved her career high rank of World No. 12 on 21 May 2012. After struggling with injuries in 2010, Lisicki rebounded in 2011 and re-entered the top 100 of the world rankings. She is only the second player in Wimbledon history to make it to the semifinals while entering the tournament as a wildcard.

Since 2004 Lisicki has trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA where she is sponsored and managed by IMG. She is coached by her father who studied sport science in Wrocław and Cologne.

Lisicki had a successful year in 2007 on the ITF circuit and climbed from World No. 497 to World No. 198 in the WTA rankings. She won two titles, one in Jersey and the other in Toronto, Canada. She defeated top-seed Katie O'Brien on 2 August 2007 at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open.

Lindsay Ann Davenport (born June 8, 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is one of only four women (the others are Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert) since 1975 who has been the year-end world no. 1 at least four times, and was ranked world no. 1 on eight different occasions. Davenport finished 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005 as the top-ranked player. She was coached most of her career by Robert Van't Hof.

Davenport is the daughter of Wink Davenport, who was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and Ann Davenport. She attended both Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California and Murrieta Valley High School in Murrieta, California.

Davenport married Morgan Stanley investment banker and former University of Southern California All-American tennis player, Jonathan Leach, in 2003. Davenport took a break from competitive tennis in late 2006 and much of 2007 to have a baby. On June 10, 2007, she gave birth to a son, Jagger Jonathan, in Newport Beach, California. She gave birth to a daughter, Lauren Andrus, on June 27, 2009 in Newport Beach, California. She currently owns a home in the Irvine, California neighborhood of Shady Canyon and also in Laguna Beach, California. She gave birth to her third child, daughter Kaya Emory, on January 16, 2012.