How Does Davis Cup in Tennis Work? (2025)

Davis Cup FIN-ARG 2023

Davis Cup is an international team competition in men’s tennis, organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It is an annual event where the world’s best national tennis teams compete. Davis Cup is called “The World Cup of Tennis”.

Disclaimer: It’s hard to find information about the Davis Cup online so here’s my take on how it works. Due to the lack of information, some things might be incorrect.

Teams

Davis Cup Team Finland 2025 players
Picture: Finnish Tennis Association

In the Davis Cup, each team consists of four to five top players from the same country.

  • Singles Players: Teams usually have at least two players designated for singles matches.
  • Doubles Players: Teams also have players who specialize in playing doubles.
  • Captain: While not a player, the team captain is an essential figure, responsible for strategy, player selection, and overall leadership. The captain of a tennis team is usually a former tennis professional from the country in question.

Competition Structure

Here is the competition structure from highest to lowest:

  • Finals: (The top 8 national teams competing for the championship title.)
  • Qualifiers: (26 nations compete for a place at the finals.)
  • World Group I: The highest division below the Davis Cup Qualifiers, with 26 nations. The winning nations advance to qualifiers while losing nations face relegation playoffs against World Group II winners.
  • World Group I play-offs
  • World Group II: Second highest division with 26 nations. Teams compete for promotion to World Group I or to remain in World Group II.
  • World Group II play-offs
  • Regional Group III: Regional competitions where teams compete for promotion to World Group II or to remain in Regional Group III.
  • Regional Group IV: The second-lowest tier of competition, where teams compete to be promoted to Regional Group III or to remain in Regional Group IV.
  • Regional Group V: The lowest tier of competition, where teams compete to promote to Regional Group IV. Teams can’t get relegated from this group.
Davis Cup Competition Structure as arrows

Scoring Format

Each Davis Cup tie includes five matches, and the country that wins at least three of them wins the tie.

In the Davis Cup Qualifiers, each tie includes five matches spread over two days. The first day features two singles matches, while the second day consists of a doubles match followed by two reverse singles. Every match is played in a best-of-three tie-break sets format.

In the Davis Cup Finals ties are played as best-of-three matches: two singles and one doubles.

Ranking Points Format

The Davis Cup Raking points formula is rather in-depth so it is hard to put in compact form. You can find the extensive ranking points formula on the official Davis Cup websites here.

Home-or-Away Format

The Davis Cup follows a home-and-away format, meaning that one of the competing teams hosts the tie in its own country. If two nations have previously faced each other in a Davis Cup tie after 1970, the host alternates. For example, if Nation A hosted the last tie, Nation B will host the current one.

If the two nations have never faced each other before, the host is determined by a draw. The Davis Cup Finals, however, are played in a single predetermined country.

Finals

Date: 18-23 November 2025

Teams:

There are 8 teams in the draw:

  • 7 x 2025 Qualifiers 2nd round winners
  • 1 wildcard nation

Wildcard: The organizer can choose a country to participate in the competition.

Format:

Best of three tiebreak sets = the third possible set is played as a tiebreak to 10 points.

The Davis Cup Finals feature 8 teams competing for the title of the world’s best tennis nation. The ties at the final consist of two singles matches and one doubles match and all matches are best of three tiebreak sets. The finals are played in a knock-out draw format starting with the quarter-finals.

Qualifiers

The 2025 Davis Cup consists of two qualifying rounds.

Qualifiers 1st Round

Date: the week commencing on 27 January

Teams:

  • 14 x 2024 Finals nations
  • 12 x 2024 World Group I winners

Format:

In the first round of the qualifiers, 26 teams compete in 13 home-and-away ties. These ties take place over two days, with two singles matches on the first day and two singles matches plus one doubles match on the second day.

Qualifiers 2nd Round

Date: the week commencing 8 September

Teams:

  • 13 x 2025 Qualifiers 1st round winners
  • 1 wildcard nation

Wildcard: The organizer can choose a country to participate in the competition.

Format:

In the 2nd qualifying round the remaining 14 nations compete in 7 home-or-away ties. These ties take place over two days, with two singles matches on the first day and two singles matches plus one doubles match on the second day. The winning teams advance to the Finals.

World Group I

Date: the week commencing 8 September 2025

Teams:

  • 13 x 2025 Qualifiers 1st Round losers
  • 13 x 2025 World Group I Play-offs winners

Format:

World Group I is the highest group in the Davis Cup. It consists of 26 nations. These nations compete in 13 home-or-away ties. These ties take place over two days, with two singles matches on the first day and two singles matches plus one doubles match on the second day.

Based on the results, teams in World Group I have three possible outcomes:

  1. Advance to the Qualifiers: Winning teams move to the next year’s Qualifiers for a chance to reach the Finals.
  2. Maintain their position in World Group I: Losing teams stay in World Group I but must compete again to avoid relegation.
  3. Be relegated to World Group I Play-offs: Losing teams from World Group I ties compete in the Play-offs. Losing teams will be relegated to World Group II.

World Group I Play-offs

Date: the week commencing 27 January 2025

Teams:

  • 12 x 2024 World Group I losers
  • 12 x 2024 World Group II winners
  • 2 x highest ranked 2024 World Group II losers

Format:

World Group I play-offs consist of 26 nations. These nations compete in 13 home-or-away ties. These ties take place over two days, with two singles matches on the first day and two singles matches plus one doubles match on the second day.

Based on the results, teams in World Group I Play-offs have 3 possible outcomes:

  1. Promotion to World Group I: Winning teams secure a spot in World Group I for the next season.
  2. Relegation to the World Group II: Losing teams from World Group I will be relegated to World Group II.
  3. Maintain their position in World Group II: Losing teams from World Group II will maintain their position in the World Group II.

World Group II

Date: the week commencing 8 September 2025

Teams:

  • 13 x 2025 World Group I Play-offs losers
  • 13 x 2025 World Group II Play-offs winners

Format:

World Group II is the second-highest group in the Davis Cup. It consists of 26 nations. These nations compete in 13 home-or-away ties. These ties take place over two days, with two singles matches on the first day and two singles matches plus one doubles match on the second day.

Based on the results, teams in World Group II have three possible outcomes:

  1. Advance to the World Group I play-offs: Winning teams move to the next year’s World Group I play-offs for a chance to earn promotion.
  2. Maintain their position in World Group II: Losing teams stay in World Group II but must compete again to avoid relegation.
  3. Be relegated to World Group II Play-offs: Losing teams from World Group II ties compete in the Play-offs. Losing teams will be relegated to Regional Group III.

World Group II Play-offs

Date: the week commencing 27 January 2025

Teams:

  • 10 x lowest ranked 2024 World Group II losers
  • 12 x promoted teams in 2024 Regional Group III events
  • 4 x highest-ranked non-promoted team in each 2024 Regional Group III event

Format:

World Group II play-offs consist of 26 nations. These nations compete in 13 home-or-away ties. These ties take place over two days, with two singles matches on the first day and two singles matches plus one doubles match on the second day.

  1. Promotion to World Group II: Winning teams secure a spot in World Group II for the next season.
  2. Maintain their position in World Group II: Losing teams from Regional Groups will maintain their position in the Regional Groups.
  3. Relegation to Regional Groups III: Losing teams from World Group II will be relegated to Regional Groups III.

Regional Groups III, IV, and, V

Regional groups are lower-tier levels of the competition, where teams compete within their geographical regions before advancing to higher levels of the tournament.

The groups are divided into four zones:

  1. Americas Group (North, Central, and South America)
  2. Asia/Oceania Group (Asia and Oceania)
  3. Europe
  4. Africa Group

Each regional zone is divided into three tiers (Groups III, IV, and V). For example, the Americas Zone consists of three groups.

Regional Group III

  • 3 group winners promoted
  • 2 group losers relegated

Regional Group IV

Americas Group:

  • Two pool play-off winners promoted

There will be two pools, each consisting of five teams. The promotion play-offs will be structured as follows: A1 vs. B2 and B1 vs. A2. The winner of Pool A (A1) will face the second-place team from Pool B (B2), and the winner of Pool B (B1) will face the second-place team from Pool A (A2) in the promotion play-offs.

Teams that finish third, fourth, and fifth in their respective pools will compete in positional play-offs.

10 competing nations:

  • Antigua & Barbuda ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ
  • Bahamas ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ธ
  • Cuba ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ
  • Guatemala ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น
  • Haiti ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น
  • Panama ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ
  • St. Lucia ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡จ
  • Surinam ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ท
  • Trinidad & Tobago ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น
  • US Virgin Islands ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ฎ

Asia/ Oceania Group

  • Two pool play-off winners promoted
  • Two pool loser nations relegated

There will be two pools of four teams, with the top team from each pool facing off in a promotion play-off against the nation finishing second in the other pool. The nations finishing third in each pool will compete in a relegation play-off against the nation finishing fourth in the opposite pool.

8 competing nations:

  • Iraq ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ
  • Kuwait ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ
  • Kyrgyzstan ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌ
  • Malaysia ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ
  • Nepal ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต
  • Pacific Oceania ๐ŸŒ
  • Philippines ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ
  • Qatar ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

Europe

  • Two pool play-off winners promoted
  • There will be one pool of three teams (Pool A) and one pool of four teams (Pool B), with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the promotion play-offs in a crossover format.

7 competing nations:

  • Albania ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ
  • Andorra ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฉ
  • Azerbaijan ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ
  • Iceland ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ
  • Kosovo ๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ
  • Liechtenstein ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฎ
  • San Marino ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฒ

Africa Group

  • two pool play-off winners promoted
  • two pool losers relegated
  • There will be two pools of four teams, with the top two from each pool advancing to the promotion play-offs in a crossover format, while the bottom two from each pool will compete in the relegation play-offs.

8 competing nations:

  • Angola ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด
  • Burundi ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ
  • Congo Democratic Republic ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ
  • Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ
  • Gabon ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
  • Ghana ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ
  • Kenya ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช
  • Mauritius ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡บ

Regional Group V

Africa Group

  • Two pool play-off winners promoted
  • There will be one pool of three teams (Pool A) and three pools of four teams (Pools B, C, and D). The promotion play-offs will be structured as follows: A1 vs. D1 and B1 vs. C1.

15 competing nations:

  • Botswana ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ
  • Cameroon ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ
  • Congo ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ
  • Djibouti ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฏ
  • Ethiopia ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น
  • Lesotho ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ
  • Libya ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡พ
  • Madagascar ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ
  • Mauritania ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท
  • Mozambique ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ
  • Rwanda ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ
  • Seychelles ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡จ
  • Sudan ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ
  • Tanzania ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ
  • Uganda ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฌ

Asia/ Oceania

  • Two pool play-off winners promoted
  • There will be one pool of three teams (Pool A) and three pools of four teams (Pools B, C, and D). The promotion play-offs will be structured as follows: A1 vs. D1 and B1 vs. C1.

15 competing nations:

  • Bahrain ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ
  • Bangladesh ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ
  • Bhutan ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡น
  • Brunei ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ
  • Guam ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡บ
  • Laos ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
  • Macau ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ด
  • Maldives ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ป
  • Mongolia ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ณ
  • Myanmar ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ
  • Northern Mariana Islands ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ต
  • Tajikistan ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฏ
  • Turkmenistan ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฒ
  • United Arab Emirates ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช
  • Yemen ๐Ÿ‡พ๐Ÿ‡ช

Prize Money

The prize money for Davis Cup 2025 has not yet been disclosed but here is the Davis Cup 2024 prize money breakdown. Note: the prize money is split between each member of the team.

Final 8 Knockout Stage

Team(s)Prize Money
World champions$2,678,571
Runner-up$1,607,143
Semi-finalists$1,071,429
Quarter-finalists$535,714

Finals Group Stage

Team(s)Prize Money
Group Winners$460,714
Group runner-ups:$412,500
3rd place$375,000
4th place$358,929

Which Teams Are Competing at the Davis Cup 2025

A total of 26 nations are competing in the first round of the 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers. Below are the participating nations listed in descending order according to their ITF rankings:

Note: Italy, as the defending champion and host country of the finals, has automatically secured a spot in the Finals without needing to compete in the qualifying stage.

*= ranked outside of the top 20.

  • Australia ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ
  • Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
  • Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช
  • USA ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ
  • Serbia ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ
  • Croatia ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท
  • France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท
  • Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ
  • Czech Republic ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ
  • Great Britain ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง
  • Finland ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ
  • Belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช
  • Argentina ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท
  • Chile ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ
  • Brazil ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท
  • Slovakia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ
  • Korea Rep. ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท
  • Sweden ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช
  • Austria* ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น
  • Chinese Taipei*
  • Denmark* ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ
  • Hungary* ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ
  • Israel* ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ
  • Japan* ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต
  • Norway* ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด
  • Switzerland* ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ

The 13 winning teams from this list will progress to the second round of the Qualifiers, where they will have the opportunity to secure a spot in the finals.

Key Dates of the Davis Cup 2025

DateStage of the tournament
31 January-2 FebruaryDavis Cup Qualifiers 1st round, World Group I Play-offs & World Group II Play-offs
the week commencing on 8 SeptemberDavis Cup Qualifiers 2nd round, World Group I Play-offs & World Group II Play-offs
18 November-23 November 2025Davis Cup Finals

History of the Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is the premier international men’s tennis team competition. It was founded in 1900 by Dwight F. Davis as a challenge between the United States and Great Britain. Over time, it expanded into an international competition, with countries from across the globe competing for the title of the world’s best tennis country.

Originally played as a traditional knockout event, the format has evolved, with recent changes introducing a finals stage featuring the top teams. Iconic players like Rod Laver, Bjรถrn Borg, Pete Sampras, and Rafael Nadal have led their nations to victory, establishing the Davis Cup as one of the most prestigious events in tennis history.

Davis Cup vs Billie Jean King Cup

Format:

  • Davis Cup: Menโ€™s competition only, with national teams competing in singles and doubles matches.
  • Billie Jean King Cup: Womenโ€™s competition only, featuring national teams competing in singles and doubles matches.

Team Composition:

  • Davis Cup: Teams consist of male players only.
  • Billie Jean King Cup: Teams consist of female players only.

Ranking Points:

  • Davis Cup: Players do not earn ATP ranking points
  • Billie Jean King Cup: Players do not earn WTA ranking points

Prize Money:

  • Davis Cup: Provides prize money for players, distributed based on team results.
  • Billie Jean King Cup: Offers prize money distributed among players based on team performance.

Match Structure:

  • Davis Cup: Historically included best-of-five-set matches until switching to best-of-three in recent years.
  • Billie Jean King Cup: Matches are played in a best-of-three format.

History:

  • Davis Cup: Founded in 1900, it is the oldest international team competition in tennis.
  • Billie Jean King Cup: Established in 1963, originally called the Fed Cup, it was rebranded in 2020 to honor Billie Jean King.

Read More:

Davis Cup Ranking Points Formula

How Billie Jean King Cup Work?