Czech Republic were the winners of the World Group in 2013
Davis Cup is structured with a 16 nation World Group, contested over four weekends during the year. The remaining countries are then divided into three regional Zones depending on their location.
Find out more about the Davis Cup structure
Competition format
Davis Cup ties are played over three days, Friday to Sunday. There are five matches, known as rubbers, the winner being the first to win three rubbers.
The competition begins with two singlesrubbers on the first day (Friday), a doublesrubber onthe second day(Saturday) and finally two singles rubbers on thethird day (Sunday). Allrubbers are the best out of five sets and the home nation chooses the venue and court surface.
The tie is hosted by one of the competing nations. The host nation is decided depending on where the two teams played their most recent tie against each other, as long as the tie took place after 1970. Any ties before this date don’t count towards the choice of ground. If a nation had home advantage last time then it will be away next time, and vice versa. If the nations have never previously met, last met before 1970, or if they last faced each other at a neutral venue, then the choice of ground is decided by lot.
GB and Davis Cup
Great Britain have won the Davis Cup a total ofnine times since it started in 1900, themost recent victory coming in 1936.Britain last reached the final in 1978, losing to USA4-1 in California.
Last tie:4-6 April 2014:Davis Cup World Group quarter-finals, GB v Italy (away)
Great Britain team battled hard but ultimately succumbed to some exceptional Italian clay-court play in Naples. With the tie evenly poised at 1-1 after the first two rubbers (the second of which had to be completed on Saturday due to a rain delay), Colin Fleming & Andy Murray won a four set doubles match to leave the Brits 2-1 ahead. However, Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi proved too good in the reverse singles, defeating Murray and James Ward respectively and denying Great Britain a first semi-final berth since 1981.
Next tie:6-8 March 2015: Davis Cup World Group round one, GB v USA (home)
Great Britain will play USA in the first round for the second straight year. The Brits defeated the Americans in San Diego in 2014 and will be looking to do the same in front of a home crowd in March.
