Home > Tennis > Events > The Davis Cup

The Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is seen as the World Cup of the tennis world, and with over a 130 nations competing to reach the Group Stages, there are many opportunities to bet on tennis within the Davis Cup competition.

To find out more about how The Davis Cup has developed over the years, visit our History of The Davis Cup page. If you are thinking about placing a bet on The Davis Cup, scroll down for some betting tips.

Format and Rules of the Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is one of the most prestigious events in tennis, and nations compete in a knockout format to win the trophy. 134 nations entered the 2005 competition, all vying for a place in the World Group of 16 nations.

Each round is a tie between two nations, consisting of five matches known as “rubbers”. A captain is allowed to select four players for each tie to choose from when the matches are played.

The first day of matches consists of five-set singles matches, normally featuring each country's best players and the singles matches are followed the next day by a doubles match.

On the third day there are another two singles matches, but the players who met on the first day cannot play each other once again. This type of format is normally known as “reverse singles”.

All Davis Cup games are decided over five sets. However, if one nation has already won the tie, then the reverse singles matches are played as a 3-set match.

Previous Davis Cup Winners

Davis Cup all time winners list:

USA – 31

Australia – 23

France – 9

Great Britain – 9

Sweden – 7

Past five Davis Cup Winners:

2005 - Croatia 3-2 Slovakia

2004 - Spain 3-2 United States of America

2003 - Australia 3-1 Spain

2002 - Russia 3-2 France

2001 - France 3-2 Australia

Last two Davis Cup Final results in depth:

Slovakia 2-3 Croatia 2005 in Sibamac Arena, Bratislava

Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) defeated. Karol Kucera (SVK), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) defeated Mario Ancic (CRO), 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4

Mario Ancic / Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) defeated Dominik Hrbaty / Michal Mertinak (SVK), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5)

Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) defeated Ivan Ljubicic (CRO), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Mario Ancic (CRO) defeated Michal Mertinak (SVK), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4

Spain 3-2 United States in Seville.

Carlos Moyà (ESP) defeated Mardy Fish (USA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

Rafael Nadal (ESP) defeated Andy Roddick (USA) 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-2

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero/Tommy Robredo (ESP) 6-0, 6-3, 6-2

Carlos Moyà (ESP) defeated Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5)

Mardy Fish (USA) defeated Tommy Robredo (ESP) 7-6 (8), 6-2

Betting on the Davis Cup

If you are thinking about placing a bet on The Davis Cup, here are some hints and tips to help you:

• Betting on the outright winner

There are a few different ways that you can bet on the Davis Cup. The most obvious way is to bet on who will be the outright winner. The two most important factors on helping you decide who to bet on is where the ties will take place and, of course, the strength of a nation's tennis players.

The choice of venue for the World Group ties is either decided by lot or goes automatically to one of the competing nations. There are a set of rules that decide who gets to stage the tie, but if there is a conflict, then tie is either held at a neutral ground or decided by a lot. The home advantage is important in the Davis Cup, not just for the obvious reasons of not having to travel and the players having their home crowd behind them, but the home team also selects the surface that the ties will be played on.

Choosing the surface gives a nation a huge boost as the team can choose a surface which suits the styles and strengths of its players. For example, nations who boast some exceptionally powerful servers or serve and volley players would opt for a fast surface such as grass, whilst a team consisting of outstanding baseline players may prefer hard courts or clay. Home advantage helped to see Spain beat the USA in 2004, and also saw Slovakia put up a brave fight against Croatia in the 2005 Davis Cup Final.

• Match play betting

If you like are looking to place more than one bet on The Davis Cup then betting on individual matches could be your thing. It is important to know your individual tennis players here, especially their form, world ranking, and what surfaces they prefer. Many bookies will offer you the chance to bet on the winner of a specific match. If you do a little research, you will be able to find out about each player and make a well educated decision on who to back.

If the match is heavily one-sided, for example, with the world number one taking on a so-called lesser opponent, then there could be some very good odds available on the underdog causing an upset. Upsets are few and far between in tennis, especially as the 5-set format often gives the favourite time to pull the match around. However, as bookies sometimes offer you the chance to bet on who will win the first set, you may have a good opportunity to cash in on a slow starting favourite going behind early.

The Davis Cup is just one of many events in the tennis calendar. Check out the other forthcoming tennis events.

For more information on betting, please check out our Tennis - How to Bet section for tips and advice.

Add to del.icio.us