History

It was held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston and the Americans surprised their opponents by racing into an unassailable 3-0 lead.

The idea of Davis Cup was conceived a year earlier by four members of the Harvard University tennis team, who wished to set up a match between USA and Great Britain. Once the two respective national associations had agreed, one of the four players, Dwight Davis, designed a tournament format and ordered a trophy, buying it with his own money.

The tournament was originally known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, but soon became known as Davis Cup after Dwight Davis’s trophy, which was designed by William Durgin and crafted by Rowland Rhodes.

Then in 1972, the competition underwent a major change of format as the Challenge Round was abolished, resulting in the reigning champion having to play in every round, rather than gaining a bye directly into the Final.

In the same year, Nicola Pietrangeli played his last tie for Italy. He enjoyed a distinguished career and still holds many Davis Cup player records, including most rubbers played, 164, and most rubbers won, 120.

In 1974, South Africa became the fifth nation to lift the trophy and was quickly followed by Sweden, Italy and Czechoslovakia, as the competition grew in popularity around the world.

The remaining nations were split into regional Zone Groups with promotion and relegation up for grabs.

This year also marked the start of a commercial partnership with NEC, the competition’s first Title Sponsor, which allowed for prize money to be given.

BNP Paribas took over from NEC as the competition’s Title Sponsor in 2002, before ending their agreement in April 2019.

The 1980s saw a new era of Swedish players win three titles and Germany also began an impressive six-year spell that saw it triumph on three occasions. In 1993, Davis Cup welcomed 100 nations for the first time.

The competition celebrated its 100th Final in 2012, which also marked the start of the ITF's Centenary Year. The final also saw the launch of the Davis Cup Commitment Award to recognise long-standing dedication.