France will begin their title defence against the host nation ©Getty Images

Defending champions France will face hosts Hungary in their opening match of the inaugural Fed Cup Finals, organisers have confirmed.

The match will be the headline clash on the second day of the revamped tournament, after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) revealed the match schedule.

Twelve nations will compete in four groups of three teams at the event, which is due to take place at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena from April 14 to 19.

Holders France were placed into Group A in last week’s draw, alongside Russia and hosts and automatic qualifiers Hungary.

Australia, who qualified automatically for the finals as last year’s runners-up, were placed in Group B alongside Belarus and Belgium.

Group C is made up of the United States, the 18-time Fed Cup champions and number three seeds, as well as Spain and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic, who received a wild card to the Fed Cup Finals and are seeded fourth, will take on Germany and Switzerland in Group D.

Matches will begin on April 15 with the Czech Republic - 11-times winners - taking on Switzerland, before the US team take on Slovakia.

Australia and Belgium will go head-to-head on the second day of action, before the meeting of the French and Hungarian teams.

The full schedule has been confirmed for the Fed Cup Finals ©Fed Cup
The full schedule has been confirmed for the Fed Cup Finals ©Fed Cup

Two more days of group matches will follow, with all 12 teams set to play two matches to determine the group winners.

Each tie will consist of two singles matches and a doubles match.

The winners of Group B and D will contest the first semi-final tie on April 18, followed by the clash between the top teams in Group A and C.

The revamped competition will conclude on April 19 with the final.

The Fed Cup has followed the men's Davis Cup in moving to a one-week, multi-nation event in a single city.

This year's edition will be the 58th in the competition's history.