The Davis Cup is the tennis equivalent of the World Cup. Here, all the top players represent their countries and go head-to-head in a knockout tournament. It is a truly thrilling competition that is organised by the International Tennis Federation, or ITF, and is held annually.
There were international tournaments held in the late 19th century. These were exhibition competitions that were held between the USA and Britain, or Britain and Ireland, though no major international tournaments existed in tennis until 1900. Dwight F Davis, an aspiring young tennis player, developed the structure for the international tournament and donated a silver bowl that would be awarded to the winner of the competition. He won the first edition of the competition representing the USA. The first competitions only featured the teams of the USA and Britain, though by 1905 5 other countries had joined: Belgium, Austria, France and Australasia - the latter of which was a combined team of Australia and New Zealand.
More countries joined the competition, and the next biggest change to the competition came in 1973. Up until then, contract professional tennis players were not allowed to play in the Davis Cup. In the Open Era, which began in 1968, tournaments were gradually opened to professionals, and the Davis Cup followed suit in 1973.
Davis Cup Qualification
Nowadays, the competition is open to 135 nations around the world. Teams have to play against other teams in their zone to qualify for the competition. There is the Americas Zone, Europe Zone, Asia/Oceania Zone, and the Africa Zone. After the regional zone qualification rounds are completed, 24 teams are drawn into the World I Group. The teams are paired and have to play in a series of fixtures against their opponent, and the winner secures a place in the Davis Cup. The 12 winners of the qualifiers are joined by the two finalists of the previous Davis Cup and two wild card invited nations.
Davis Cup Competition Proper and Champions
16 teams play in the Davis Cup Finals, which takes place at the end of the year. Each team has up to 5 players and one captain. The teams are drawn into 4 groups of four, A, B, C, and D. The nations then have to play in a single-leg robin round against the other teams in their group. These legs consist of 3 matches in a best of 3 sets format. The teams that win the groups and finish runners-up then qualify for the knockout round. Here, the teams are paired and have to play in a single-leg best of 3 matches series, from the quarter-finals until the final.
The USA has won the most titles in the history of the Davis Cup. The team has won a total of 32 titles and finished runners-up 29 times. After them, Australia is the most successful nation, with 28 titles and finishing runners-up 20 times. France and Great Britain have both won 10 titles each, and are the top European nations in the Davis Cup. To date, Argentina is the only Latin American nation to win a Davis Cup, winning their only title in 2016.
How to bet on the Davis Cup
Outrights
Outrights are bets that you can place ahead of time and they relate to the tournament as a whole. There will be odds offered on all of the countries in the Davis Cup and you can bet on which team you think will win it. You can also place these bets during the competition, but the odds will change after each round so it is better to either place your bets before the competition starts or in one of the early rounds.
Match Winner
This is a bet on which team will win a match. For example, if Canada plays against the USA, then you can bet on Canada to win or on the USA to win. It is important to note that match winner bets are only for the winners of individual matches. You can also find bets on the series, where you can bet on a team to win the series.
Handicap of Games
If you want to bet on a team to win a match and increase the odds, you can give them a handicap. This basically means the team needs to beat the other team and win by a certain margin of games or more.
For example, you can bet on Australia beating France in the first match of the series with a handicap of -5.5. This means Australia needs to win and be at least 6 games clear of France. If the match ends 6-2, 6-3 then you will win because Australia is clear by 7 games. If the match ends 6-4, 6-3, then you will lose your bet as Australia are only clear by 5 games.
Game Props
There are many betting markets that relate to specific match events. These can be markets relating to aces, double faults, and even yes or no bets such as will a player win after going behind 1-0, will there be a third set in the match and many more.
And Many More
You will find many more tennis bets on matches in the Davis Cup. Betting on individual sets, total games, total deuces, total aces, and correct set score are just a few examples of all the bets you will have at your disposal.
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