The Davis Cup is a special tournament on the tennis calendar. Considering a packed ATP schedule every year, representing their country is a rare opportunity for players. As a result, there is a strong defense for the tournament’s existence and the good news is that from next year, the Davis Cup will go back to its original format of matches being held across some weekends throughout the year across the globe, rather than at a stretch which has made it difficult for many top players to commit to nowadays.
With 155 nations having entered the Davis Cup 2023, the tournament is well spread throughout the world. The tournament follows a unique format, but after a few changes in 2019, the format has been altered, making it easier for atleast tennis fans to understand.
There are 3 main stages in the Davis Cup 2023 tournament: 24 teams compete in the qualifying round, which takes place in early February. Followed by which, 16 teams compete in the group stage in September and from those, 8 teams advance to the Davis Cup Finals, which is the knockout stage comprising of quarterfinals, semifinal and the final match.
After the rules update in 2019 courtesy former Spanish footballer Gerard Pique’s company Kosmos, there are only 3 matches in each tie, as compared to 5 earlier. The three matches consist of two singles ties and one doubles tie. The matches are played as a best-of-three format to decide the winner.
What is the scoring format at the Davis Cup 2023?
The ties in the Davis Cup Qualifiers usually consist of five matches played over the span of two days. Day 1 is reserved for two singles matches followed by doubles action. While, Day 2 is reserved for two reverse singles matches. All matches are in the best-of-3 sets format.
Each tie consists of five rubbers – with the country that wins three or more matches out of five, wins the tie. The final. however, has a different format. There are only three matches per tie in the final; two singles and one doubles. The team winning two of the three matches, wins the tie.
This year, Serbia, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Czech Republic, Canada, Finland and Great Britain have made it to the Final 8 of the tournament. Serbia and Italy are the two favorites for the title, because of the in-form Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner. However, they will face tough competition from their opponents.
