Davis Cup facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Davis Cup

Sport	Tennis
Founded	1900; 125 years ago (1900)
Founder	Dwight F. Davis
No. of teams	155 (2023)
Countries	ITF member nations
Continent	Worldwide
Most recent champion(s)	Italy (3rd title)
Most titles	United States (32 titles)
Official website	daviscup.com

The 2018 Davis Cup Final – opening ceremony.

The Davis Cup is the most important international team competition in men's tennis. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) organizes this event every year. Teams from over 150 countries compete, making it the world's biggest annual team sports event. The organizers call it the "World Cup of Tennis," and the winners are known as world champions.

The competition started in 1900. Back then, it was a challenge between Great Britain and the United States. By 2023, 155 nations had entered teams.

The United States has won the most titles, with 32 victories. They also finished second 29 times. The most recent champions are Italy. They beat the Netherlands in 2024 to win their third title.

For women, there's a similar competition called the Billie Jean King Cup. It used to be known as the Federation Cup and Fed Cup. Only a few countries have won both the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup in the same year. These include Australia, Canada, Italy, Russia, the Czech Republic, and the United States.

Until 1973, only amateur players could compete in the Davis Cup. After 1968, national professional players were also allowed. This changed five years after the "Open Era" began in tennis, which allowed all professional players to compete in major tournaments.

History of the Davis Cup

The Davis Cup trophy on display in Prague in 2012.

The idea for a tennis competition between British and American players likely came from James Dwight. He was the first president of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association, formed in 1881. Dwight wanted to see how American players compared to the famous British champions. He tried hard to set up an official match but couldn't.

However, by the mid-1890s, British and American players were visiting each other's countries to play tennis. This led to a friendship between American player William Larned and Irishman Harold Mahony. They pushed for an official team competition between their nations.

Before the first Davis Cup match in 1900, other international competitions had already taken place. For example, England and Ireland had an annual team competition since 1892. England also played against France in 1895.

American player Dwight Davis (center) in 1900 with the trophy he helped create.

Dwight F. Davis was a student at Harvard University and a tennis player. He was at a tournament in Canada where people discussed the idea of an international competition. Davis decided to donate a special trophy for this event. He bought a beautiful sterling silver punchbowl for about US$1,000 from his own money.

The first match, between the United States and Britain (called the "British Isles"), happened in Boston in 1900. The American team, led by Dwight Davis, surprised everyone by winning the first three matches.

The competition quickly grew. By 1905, teams from Belgium, Austria, France, and Australasia (a combined team from Australia and New Zealand) joined.

The competition was first called the International Lawn Tennis Challenge. But soon, everyone started calling it the Davis Cup after Dwight Davis's trophy.

At first, the Davis Cup was a "challenge cup." This meant all teams played against each other. The winner then got to play against the previous year's champion in the final round.

In 1923, teams were split into two areas: the "America Zone" and the "Europe Zone." The winners of these zones played each other to decide who would challenge the defending champion. Later, an "Eastern Zone" was added in 1955.

From 1950 to 1967, Australia was very strong. They won the Cup 15 times in 18 years.

In 1972, the rules changed. The competition became a "knockout" event. This means the defending champion had to play in all rounds, just like other teams. The Davis Cup was then given directly to the champion of the final match.

For a long time, only the United States, Great Britain, France, and Australia had won the Davis Cup. But in 1974, South Africa and India reached the final. However, India refused to play in South Africa because of its apartheid policies. So, South Africa was given the cup. The next year, 1975, Sweden beat Czechoslovakia, marking the first time two "outsider" nations played in the final. Since then, many other countries have won the trophy.

In 1981, a new system was created. The 16 best teams played in the World Group. Other teams competed in regional zones. In 1989, the tiebreak rule was added to Davis Cup matches. Since 2016, tiebreaks are used in all five sets.

In 2018, the ITF voted to change the competition format starting in 2019. The main event became an 18-team tournament held in one location over one week at the end of the season. This new format, supported by famous athletes like Gerard Piqué and tennis stars like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, was designed to be more exciting. However, some countries and players, like Roger Federer, were against it. In 2023, the ITF took back control of the event.

Davis Cup matches have sometimes been affected by political protests. For example, in 1968, a match between Sweden and Rhodesia was moved due to protests against Rhodesia's government. In 1975, there were protests against a match between Chile and Sweden because of human rights concerns in Chile. In 2009, a match between Sweden and Israel in Malmö had a very small audience due to protests.

Russia and Belarus were suspended from the competition after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

How the Davis Cup Works

A monument to the Davis Cup at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.

The Competition Format

The 18 best national teams play in the World Group each year to win the Davis Cup. Nations not in the World Group compete in one of three regional zones: Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe/Africa. The competition takes place over four weekends throughout the year.

Each round between two countries is called a "tie." It is held in one of the countries. A tie usually involves five matches: four singles matches and one doubles match. The ITF decides which country hosts each tie.

The World Group is the top level. Teams are ranked based on their past results. The defending champion and the runner-up are always the top two ranked teams. Teams that lose in the first round of the World Group go to a playoff round. Here, they play against winners from Group I of the regional zones. The winners of these playoffs stay in the World Group for the next year. The losers go down to Group I in their regional zone.

Each of the three regional zones has four groups. Groups I and II play knockout rounds. Losing teams can be moved down to a lower group. Teams in Groups III and IV play a "round-robin" event, where everyone plays everyone else. This also includes promotion and relegation.

Changes in 2019

For the 2019 competition, the format changed a lot. The biggest change was that the World Group finals happened in one place over one week. Eighteen teams were split into six groups of three teams. The winners of each group and the two best second-place teams moved on to the quarterfinals.

In this new format, each tie between teams had two singles matches and one doubles match. Also, matches changed from being "best of 5 sets" to "best of 3 sets." This single event is now called the Davis Cup Finals. The lower zone groups (I and II) now have single ties to decide who moves up or down.

Structure of the Competition

Ties and Rubbers Explained

In the Davis Cup, a "tie" means an elimination round between two countries. A "rubber" is an individual match within that tie.

In the annual World Group competition, 16 nations play in eight first-round ties. The eight winners move to four quarterfinal ties. The four winners play in two semifinal ties. Finally, the two winners compete in the final tie.

Each tie has five rubbers, played over three days (usually Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The country that wins three or more of the five rubbers wins the tie.

• On the first day, the first two rubbers are singles matches. Usually, each country's two best singles players compete.
• On the second day, the doubles rubber is played.
• On the third day, the last two rubbers are "reverse singles." The players from the first day usually play again, but they switch opponents.

Sometimes, a team captain might change players for the final day. For example, if one team has already won the tie (e.g., 3-0), younger or lower-ranked players might play the remaining "dead rubbers" to gain experience.

Since 2011, if a team wins a tie 3-1 after the first reverse singles match, and that match was long (four sets or more), the last reverse singles match is not played. However, if a team wins 3-0 after the doubles match, all five rubbers are still played.

Ties are played in one of the competing countries. The host country usually alternates between the two teams. If the teams haven't played each other since 1970, they draw lots to decide the host.

Venues for World Group matches must meet certain size requirements:

• World Group play-offs: At least 4,000 seats.
• World Group first round: At least 4,000 seats.
• World Group quarterfinals: At least 6,000 seats.
• World Group semifinals: At least 8,000 seats.
• World Group final: At least 12,000 seats.

Team Captain

Before each tie, the team captain (a non-playing coach) chooses four players for the team. They also decide who will play in each match. On the day before play starts, the order of play for the first day is chosen randomly.

Each rubber is normally played as the best of five sets. Since 2016, all sets use a tiebreak if the score reaches 6-6. Before 2016, the fifth set often didn't have a tiebreaker, so play continued until one side won by two games (like 10-8).

If a team has already won the tie before all five rubbers are finished, the remaining matches might be shortened to the best of three sets. These shorter matches also use a tiebreak if needed.

In Group III and Group IV competitions, each tie has only three rubbers: two singles and one doubles match. These are played in a single day. All rubbers are best of three sets, with a tiebreaker if necessary.

Davis Cup Records

Team Performance

Country	Winners	Runners-up
United States	1900, 1902, 1913, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1937, 1938, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2007 (32)	1903, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1914, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1964, 1973, 1984, 1991, 1997, 2004 (29)
Australasia  Australia	1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1914, 1919, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1983, 1986, 1999, 2003 (28)	1912, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1936, 1938, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1990, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2022, 2023 (21)
France	1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2017 (10)	1925, 1926, 1933, 1982, 1999, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2018 (9)
British Isles  Great Britain	1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1912, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 2015 (10)	1900, 1902, 1907, 1913, 1919, 1931, 1937, 1978 (8)
Sweden	1975, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1998 (7)	1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1996 (5)
Spain	2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2019 (6)	1965, 1967, 2003, 2012 (4)
Italy	1976, 2023, 2024 (3)	1960, 1961, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1998 (6)
Russia RTF	2002, 2006, 2020-21 (3)	1994, 1995, 2007 (3)
West Germany  Germany	1988, 1989, 1993 (3)	1970, 1985 (2)
Czechoslovakia  Czech Republic	1980, 2012, 2013 (3)	1975, 2009 (2)
Croatia	2005, 2018 (2)	2016, 2020-21 (2)
Argentina	2016 (1)	1981, 2006, 2008, 2011 (4)
Serbia	2010 (1)	2013 (1)
Switzerland	2014 (1)	1992 (1)
Canada	2022 (1)	2019 (1)
South Africa	1974 (1)	—
Romania	—	1969, 1971, 1972 (3)
India	—	1966, 1974, 1987 (3)
Belgium	—	1904, 2015, 2017 (3)
Japan	—	1921 (1)
Mexico	—	1962 (1)
Chile	—	1976 (1)
Slovakia	—	2005 (1)
Netherlands	—	2024 (1)

Titles Since 1972

Country	Titles	First Win	Last Win
United States	9	1972	2007
Sweden	7	1975	1998
Australia	6	1973	2003
Spain	6	2000	2019
France	4	1991	2017
Italy	3	1976	2024
Czechoslovakia  Czech Republic	3	1980	2013
West Germany  Germany	3	1988	1993
Russia RTF	3	2002	2021
Croatia	2	2005	2018
South Africa	1	1974
Serbia	1	2010
Switzerland	1	2014
Great Britain	1	2015
Argentina	1	2016
Canada	1	2022

• Most Consecutive Titles:
  • All-time: 7, United States, from 1920 to 1926.
  • Since 1972: 2, achieved by several teams including the United States, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, and Italy.
• Most Consecutive Finals:
  • All-time: 23, Australia, from 1946 to 1968.
  • Since 1972: 7, Sweden, from 1983 to 1989.

Individual Records

• Most titles as a player:
  • Roy Emerson (Australia) won 8 titles (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967).
• Most titles as captain:
  • Harry Hopman (Australia) led his team to 16 titles (1939, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967).
• Youngest player:
  • Marco De Rossi (San Marino) played at 13 years, 319 days (May 12, 2011).
• Oldest player:
  • Vittorio Pellandra (San Marino) played at 66 years, 104 days (May 11, 2007).
• Most years played:
  • 30 years, Leander Paes (India) from 1990 to 2020.
• Most ties played:
  • 102 ties, Omar Al-Awadhi (United Arab Emirates) from 1996 to 2024.
• Most rubbers played:
  • 164 rubbers, Nicola Pietrangeli (Italy) from 1954 to 1972.
• Most rubbers won:
  • Total: 120, Nicola Pietrangeli (Italy).
  • Singles: 78, Nicola Pietrangeli (Italy).
  • Doubles: 45, Leander Paes (India).

Current ITF Davis Cup Ranking

For more information, see ITF rankings

ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking, as of 18 September  2024 (2024 -09-18)[update]
Rank	Nation	Points	Move†
1	Italy	527.25
2	Australia	491.75
3	Canada	477.50
4	United States	432.50	5
5	Germany	421.50	1
6	Netherlands	402.00
7	Serbia	393.75	2
8	Croatia	393.00	1
9	France	390.75	2
10	Spain	389.00	7
11	Czech Republic	387.50	3
12	Great Britain	387.25
13	Finland	383.25	3
14	Belgium	368.00	1
15	Argentina	360.50	5
16	Chile	358.75	1
17	Brazil	354.25	1
18	Slovakia	347.50	4
19	South Korea	342.50	2
20	Sweden	341.50	2

^†Change since previous ranking update

See also

In Spanish: Copa Davis para niños

• Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup
• List of Davis Cup champions
• Billie Jean King Cup
• ATP Cup
• Hopman Cup
• Davis Cup Tennis, a video game based on the event
• History of tennis