Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
Euro/Africa Zone Group I
Round One, February 2013
Serbia were the winners of the World Group in 2010
The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the biggest and most prestigious team competition in men’s tennis and sees around 130 nations battle it out for top honours.
An annual competition, the participating nations play in tiered groups. Only the top 16 nations compete in the elite division, known as the World Group, which is played in a knock-out format over several weekends throughout the year.
At the levels below the World Group, nations compete in regional or ‘zonal’ competitions: the Americas Zone, the Asia/Oceania Zone and the Europe/Africa Zone. In each zone, there are four groups, Group I being the highest and Group IV the lowest. When not playing in the World Group, Britain plays in the Europe/Africa Zone.
Each autumn the first round losers from the World Group competition battle it out with the winning nations from the Group I Zonal competitions for a place in the elite World Group the following year.
Davis Cup ties (in the World Group, World Group play-offs, and Groups I and II) 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 singles rubbers on the first day (Friday), a doubles rubber on the second day (Saturday) and finally two singles rubbers on the third day (Sunday). All rubbers are the best out of five sets and the home nation chooses the venue and court surface.
After beating Hungary in their Europe/Africa Zone Group II promotion play-off in September 2011, GB will now face Slovak Republic in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I.
Great Britain have won the Davis Cup a total of nine times since it started in 1900, the most recent victory coming in 1936. Britain last reached the final in 1978, losing to USA 4-1 in California.