The Davis Cup, the international tennis tournament for national teams that would be the equivalent of the World Cup and that drives every sports fan crazy, has witnessed a significant evolution throughout its history.
In 2019, this historic championship suffered a radical change in its formatseeking to adapt to the demands of the sports calendar and capture the attention of a new generation of fans.
The Davis Cup was born in 1900 as a friendly competition between the United States and Great Britain. The idea came to fruition with a challenge format, where the champion team defended its title against a challenger. This model was maintained until 1972, when a direct elimination system was adopted that we knew until 2019, period in which Spain raised six ‘salad bowls’as the trophy is popularly known. From here, the revolution arrived, with an organization more oriented to the spectacle and finals of eight concentrated in one week.
In 2024, Malaga will be in charge of hosting the great event, with Spain among the eight finalist teams and with the added incentive that it will be the last professional trophy that Rafa Nadal competes in in his career, so the excitement of lifting the seventh It is even more overwhelming between the team and the fans. But what is necessary to win the title? We give you the keys to the current Davis Cup format.
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2 finalists from the previous edition (Australia and Italy).
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2 invited teams (Spain and United Kingdom).
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12 winners of the qualification round held in February.
In 2019 the tournament adopted a new format designed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in collaboration with the Kosmos group, led by footballer Gerard Piqué. The central idea was to condense the tournament into a more compact format, with an annual final tournament that brought together the best teams in one place, similar to a tennis World Cup.
With this new organization there are, to explain it easily, two phases within the finals. The first is held in September and is played by four groups of four countries each, of which two per group qualify for the Final 8, which is held in direct elimination from the quarterfinals, semifinals and final, the phase that begins this Tuesday.
But to be among those final eight chosen, there is a hard road to travel that, to begin with, includes several categories.
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Final Phase (with 16 teams).
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World Group I and World Group II.
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Promotion/relegation play-offs between categories.
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Regional groups for lower levels.
To be in one category or another and fight for the title, the format is complex but contributes to increasing the excitement:
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Participants
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4 semi-finalists from the previous year: These teams qualify directly for the final phase.
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12 teams from the qualifying phase: They are determined in qualifying rounds held in February.
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FORMAT OF THE FINAL PHASE
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Group stage:
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16 teams divided into 4 groups of 4 nations.
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Each group plays a round robin.
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The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals.
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Elimination rounds:
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From the quarterfinals, the teams compete in direct matches at the same venue and in the same week until the final: best of three matches and three sets.
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Relegation from the final phase: the teams that are in the last two positions of their groups in the group stage are automatically relegated to the qualifying phase of the following year.
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This stage is the bridge between the final phase and World Group I. It is held in February.
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Participants
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12 teams from World Group I (play-off winners from the previous year).
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4 teams relegated from the final phase of the previous year.
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Format
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12 round-trip qualifiers, with a five-match format (four singles and one doubles).
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The winners (12 teams) advance to that year’s finals.
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The losers are relegated to World Group I.
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It is the second category of the competition. Teams at this stage compete to advance to the following year’s qualifying phase.
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Participants
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12 losing teams from the qualifying phase.
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12 winning teams from World Group I play-offs (from the previous year).
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Format
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12 round-trip qualifiers, with the same five-match format.
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The winners advance to next year’s qualifying round.
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The losers play relegation play-offs to avoid falling to World Group II.
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It is the third category of the Davis Cup and the last level before the regional groups.
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Participants
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12 losing teams from the World Group I play-offs.
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12 winning teams from the World Group II play-offs (from the previous year).
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Format
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12 round-trip heats.
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The winners are promoted to the World Group I play-offs.
How many games are played and when is qualification achieved?
In the current format, each nation must play at least three matches in the group stage. Qualification for the playoffs is achieved by finishing in the top two of their groupaccumulating more victories in direct confrontations.
If a team reaches the final, it will have played a total of 7 matches during the final phase (3 groups, 1 quarterfinal, 1 semi-final and the final). In total, between the qualifying playoffs and the final phase, a champion team could have played up to 12 series in a year.
Draw of the 2024 Davis Cup finals
It is about a somewhat complex format but it has achieved its objective of focusing the excitement in a single week of a lot of tennis and passion, with fans traveling from all over the world to see their teams and this year having Malaga as the nerve center of racket sport.
Although we are sorry to tell you that, if with this explanation you have finally understood the happy format, by 2025 it will be slightly different. And Kosmos has left the equation and the International Tennis Federation has announced modifications to the international tournament par excellence.
The final in a single city, in one week, and with eight contenders for the title will be maintained, but the current (and complicated to understand) group stage will be modified, so that at least partial return will be made to the old organization with matches of local and visitor. Here we leave you the cheat sheet so that you can study for next year.
In the meantime, remember that you can watch the matches from the 2024 Davis Cup finals on Movistar+ and follow live, minute by minute, Spain’s duels in ABC.esas well as all the detailed tournament information.
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