Rankings Explained

The Davis Cup Nations Ranking system was updated in 2019 in order to reflect the new format of the competition.

The system aims to ensure that the points are fairly distributed to nations whether they have played once or twice during the year.

The new Davis Cup Nations Ranking will be published three times a year - after the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round, Qualifiers 2nd Round and after the Davis Cup Final 8.

The ranking is based on results over a four-year period, with recent performances weighted more heavily.

In light of the format changes approved in 2024, and the necessary updates needed for the home or away ties to cover the former Finals Group Stages, new ranking points have been calculated to maintain the correct balance across the different levels of the competition.

Definitions

T = Total ranking points for a Nation P(YEAR) = Total ranking points gained by a Nation in a specific year S = Stage points W = Win bonus R = Rank bonus A = Away bonus

Points structure at a glance

Stage points (S)	Win bonus (W)	Rank bonus (R)	Away bonus (A)
Final 8 (if champion is the host) – 170	Final 8, Final - 40	vs 1-2 - 10 points	10 points
Final 8 (host but not champion) – 155	Final 8, semi-final - 30	vs 3-4 - 8 points
Qualifiers 2nd Round (champion or WC) – 145	Final 8, quarter-final - 20	vs 5-8 - 6 points
Qualifiers 1st Round - 120	Qualifiers 2nd Round - 20	vs 9-16 - 4 points
World Group I Play-offs - 100	Qualifiers 1st Round - 20	vs 17-32 - 2 points
World Group II Play-offs - 45	World Group I - 5
Group III - 45	World Group I Play-offs - 15
Group IV - 30	World Group II - 5
Group V - 15	World Group II Play-offs - 50
	Groups III - variable, max 50
	Groups IV - variable, max 50
	Groups V - variable, max 50

Calculating total ranking points at the end of the year

A Nation’s total ranking points (T) are the combination of the year-end points (Pyear) from the current year plus discounted year-end points from the previous three years. Previous years’ points are discounted as follows:

T = Pyear + (0.75 × Pyear-1) + (0.5 × Pyear-2) + (0.25 × Pyear-3)

For example, a Nation’s total ranking points at the end of 2019 are calculated as follows:

T = (100% of the points earned in 2019) + (75% of the points earned in 2018) + (50% of the points earned in 2017) + (25% of the points earned in 2016)

Points calculated at end of 2021 are calculated as follows:

T = (100% of the points earned in 2020 and 2021) + (75% of the points earned in 2019) + (50% of the points earned in 2018) + (25% of the points earned in 2017).

Adjusted system 2020 onwards

With the addition of the World Group I Play-offs and World Group II Play-offs the participation of some nations increased by 100% with double the opportunity to win ties.

By reallocating Stage Points to Win Bonus we can ensure that the Nations Ranking system is aligned to this new competition format. Some points to note are:

The Stage Points have been simplified so they are known to all nations at the start of the year.
The simplified Stage Points have a reduced number of points which is offset by having a win bonus for every tie.
The away bonus has been simplified.

Points structure

Stage points (S)	Win bonus (W)	Rank bonus (R)	Away bonus (A)
Awarded once at the start of the year	Awarded for each tie won	Awarded for each tie if applicable	Awarded for away wins **
Final 8 (if champion is the host) – 170 pts	Final 8 – Final – 40 pts	vs 1-2 - 10 pts
Final 8 (host but not champion) – 155	Final 8 – SFs – 30 pts	vs 3-4 - 8 pts
Qualifiers 2nd Round (champion or WC) – 145	Final 8 – QFs – 20 pts	vs 5-8 - 6 pts
Qualifiers (+Finals wild cards) – 120 pts	Qualifiers 2nd Round – 20 pts	vs 9-16 - 4 pts
World Group I Play-offs – 100 pts	Qualifiers 1st Round – 20 pts	vs 17-32 - 2 pts
World Group II Play-offs – 45 pts	World Group I – 5 pts
Group III - 45 pts	World Group I PO – 15 pts
Group IV - 25 pts	World Group II – 5 pts
Group V - 5 pts	World Group II PO – 50 pts
	Groups III – variable*
	Groups IV – variable*
	Groups V - variable*

*dependant on Group III, IV and V round-robin pool sizes, with a maximum total of 50-win bonus points **Qualifiers, World Group I Play-offs, World Group I, World Group II Play-offs, World Group II

Year-end ranking points

Year-end ranking points are calculated as follows:

Pyear = S + W + R(*) + A

(*) Nations contesting multiple ties can earn several Ranking Bonuses.

Transition to the new system

To make the transition to the new ranking system, the total points for each Nation will be calculated as follows:

P2015 = 25% of total points gained in 2015 divided by 10 P2016 = 50% of total points gained in 2016 divided by 10 P2017 = 75% of total points gained in 2017 divided by 10 P2018 = Total points gained in 2018 divided by 10

Calculation of future Pyear values

Stage points

A nation will receive the following points depending on the stage of the competition they reach:

Stage of competition reached	Stage points
Final 8 (if the champion is host)	170
Final 8 (host but not champion)	155
Qualifiers 2nd Round (champion or WC)	145
Qualifiers 1st Round	120
World Group I Play-offs	100
World Group II Play-offs	45
Group III	45
Group IV	45
Group V	30

Win bonus

Nations will receive a Win Bonus for winning a tie at certain stages of the competition.

As you can see below, this is in place to ensure that winning nations receive an extra bonus on top of the Stage Points which every nation gains anyway by virtue of competing in a specific stage.

These bonus points ensure that a victory is rewarded in terms of a numerical value in the system and allows for those nations to gain more points as follows:

Stage of competition	Win bonus
Final 8 - Final	40 pts
Final 8 - Semi-final	30 pts
Final 8 - Quarter-final	20 pts
Qualifiers 2nd Round	20 pts
Qualifiers 1st Round	20 pts
World Group I	5 pts
World Group I Play-offs	15 pts
World Group II	5 pts
World Group II Play-offs	50 pts
Groups III, variable	Max 50 pts
Groups IV, variable	Max 50 pts

Win-points, Groups III-V

Nations are awarded points per tie as per below for Groups III-V:

No. of ties played by nation	Win-points per tie
1 tie	50
2 ties	25
3 ties	16
4 ties	12
5 ties	10
6 ties	8
7 ties	7
8 ties	6

Ranking bonus

Nations will receive a ranking bonus for winning a tie based on the opponent’s ranking at the time of the tie:

Win vs (opponent's ranking)	Ranking bonus
Top 2	10
3-4	8
5-8	6
9-16	4
17-32	2

Nations can potentially earn several Ranking Bonuses, if they compete in the round-robin stage at the Finals or in the Groups III and below competition.

Away bonus

An Away Bonus is awarded to Nations winning ties away from home in the Qualifiers and World Group I and II play-off ties.

The Away Bonus is calculated as follows:

A = 0.25 × (S + W + R)

For the purposes of calculating the Away Bonus for Nations winning an away tie in the Qualifiers a value of 50 Stage point (S) will be assigned. The format of the competition prevents Nations from winning two away ties in a year.

Tied rankings and decimal rounding

If two or more nations have the same number of ranking points then the nation who has played the least amount of ties in the ranking period will assume the higher position. If the nations have played the same number of ties in the ranking period, then they will have a joint ranking.

For administrative purposes, we will continue to round ranking points to two decimal places. For example, ranking points of 426.765 would be rounded to 426.77 and 426.764 would be rounded to 426.76