Team cups
How the Davis Cup works
The ITF’s men’s team championship. Nations play ties through the year, and eight of them meet for the trophy in November.
The year
Davis Cup is played in three main weeks: one after the Australian Open, one after the US Open, and the Finals in November. The competition also runs World Groups and regional groups, so nations move up and down.
The Qualifiers are two knockout rounds. The first is the February week. The second is the September week. The Davis Cup site says 28 nations start that path: 26 in the Qualifiers, plus two wild cards. The second round is seven ties, and seven nations advance from it. The Finals are a separate field of eight.
A tie
A home-or-away tie is five matches over two days. Two singles matches are played on the first day. The second day is the doubles, then the reverse singles. The first nation to win three matches takes the tie. The host chooses the surface.
Ties played in one place, including the Finals and the lower regional groups, are three matches: two singles and a doubles. The Finals themselves are eight nations in one city, over quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final.
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