Italy Davis Cup team
The Italy men's national tennis team represents Italy in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federazione Italiana Tennis. Italy won the Davis Cup in 1976, and finished as runners-up six times (1960, 1961, 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1998). They currently compete in the World Group. They last competed in the highest level in 2000, but winning 3–0 against Chile, on September 16, 2011, won again a pass for the World Group.[1]
Italy | |
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![]() | |
Captain | Filippo Volandri |
ITF ranking | 10 ![]() |
First year | 1922 |
Years played | 84 |
Ties played (W–L) | 242 (159–83) |
Years in World Group | 24 (19–23) |
Davis Cup titles | 1 (1976) |
Runners-up | 6 (1960, 1961, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1998) |
Most total wins | Nicola Pietrangeli (120–44) |
Most singles wins | Nicola Pietrangeli (78–32) |
Most doubles wins | Nicola Pietrangeli (42–12) |
Best doubles team | Orlando Sirola & Nicola Pietrangeli (34–8) |
Most ties played | Nicola Pietrangeli (66) |
Most years played | Nicola Pietrangeli (18) |


History
Italy competed in its first Davis Cup in the 1922 International Lawn Tennis Challenge. Italy has played no less than 15 semifinals. The budget is slightly in the red. There are eight defeats compared to seven victories. There are four defeats in which Italy did not take home even a point and they were all inflicted by the Australian (1949, 1955) and the United States teams (1952, 1958). Of the seven semifinals won, the best were played against the United States (1961 and 1998), against France (1977) and against Czechoslovakia (1979) and all took home with a score of 4–1.[1]
Captains
Although Italy had started its adventure in the Davis Cup back in 1922, it was only in 1928 that the team had its first captain and it was Baron Uberto De Morpurgo, who was also a player on that occasion.
Beginning in the 1950s, the team captain's position became a kind of coach called the non-playing captain.[2]
List
- Uberto de Morpurgo (1928-?)[3]
- Vasco Valerio (1965-1968)
- Orlando Sirola (1969-1971)
- Giordano Maioli (1972)
- Fausto Gardini (1973-1975)
- Nicola Pietrangeli (1976-1977)
- Bitti Bergamo (1978-1979)[4]
- Vittorio Crotta (1979-1983)
- Adriano Panatta (1984-1997)[5]
- Paolo Bertolucci (1998-2000)
- Corrado Barazzutti (2001-2020)
- Filippo Volandri (2021-)[6]
Current team (2021)
List of squads for the 2021 Davis Cup Finals.[7]
- Lorenzo Sonego
- Fabio Fognini
- Simone Bolelli (instead of the injured Matteo Berrettini)
- Jannik Sinner
- Lorenzo Musetti
History of participations
The Davis Cup World Group format start in 1981 (participate only the 16 top national men's tennis teams). However, the Italian team has participated in 90 editions of the Davis Cup.[8]
1920-1940
Part | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
17 | DNP | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | SF | 3R | SF | 3R | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | DNP | 3R | 3R | 3R | n.d. |
1941-1960
Part | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 | not disputed due to WWII | DNP | 4R | SF | 4R | 4R | SF | 4R | 3R | SF | QF | 5R | SF | QF | F |
1961-1980
Part | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | F | QF | 1R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 3R | QF | 3R | 1R | 2R | 3R | QF | SF | 2R | W | F | 2R | F | F |
2001-2020
Part | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | not qualified for the World Group | 1R | QF | SF | 1R | QF | QF | n.q. | QF | n.d. |
2021–
Part | 21 |
---|---|
1 | QF |
Recent performances
Here is the list of all match-ups since 1981, when the competition started being held in the current World Group format.
2010s
Year | Competition | Date | Location | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Europe/Africa Zone Group I, 1st Round | 5–7 March | Castellaneta (ITA) | ![]() |
5–0 | Win |
Europe/Africa Zone Group I, 2nd Round | 7–9 May | Zoetermeer (NED) | ![]() |
4–1 | Win | |
World Group Play-offs | 17–19 September | Lidköping (SWE) | ![]() |
2–3 | Loss | |
2011 | Europe/Africa Zone Group I, 2nd Round | 8–10 July | Arzachena (ITA) | ![]() |
5–0 | Win |
World Group Play-offs | 16–18 September | Santiago (CHI) | ![]() |
4–1 | Win | |
2012 | World Group, 1st Round | 10–12 February | Ostrava (CZE) | ![]() |
4–1 | Loss |
World Group Play-offs | 14–16 September | Napoli (ITA) | ![]() |
4–1 | Win | |
2013 | World Group, 1st Round | 1–3 February | Turin (ITA) | ![]() |
5–0 | Win |
World Group, Quarterfinals | 5–7 April | Vancouver (CAN) | ![]() |
3–2 | Loss | |
2014 | World Group, 1st Round | 31 January – 2 February | Mar del Plata (ARG) | ![]() |
3–1 | Win |
World Group, Quarterfinals | 4–6 April | Napoli (ITA) | ![]() |
3–2 | Win | |
World Group, Semifinals | 12–14 September | Geneva (SWI) | ![]() |
2–3 | Loss | |
2015 | World Group, 1st Round | 6–8 March | Astana (KAZ) | ![]() |
2–3 | Loss |
World Group Play-offs | 18–20 September | Irkutsk (RUS) | ![]() |
4–1 | Win | |
2016 | World Group, 1st Round | 4–6 March | Pesaro (ITA) | ![]() |
5–0 | Win |
World Group, Quarterfinals | 15–17 July | Pesaro (ITA) | ![]() |
1–3 | Loss | |
2017 | World Group, 1st Round | 3–5 February | Buenos Aires (ARG) | ![]() |
3–2 | Win |
World Group, Quarterfinals | 7–9 April | Charleroi (BEL) | ![]() |
2–3 | Loss | |
2018 | World Group, 1st Round | 2–4 February | Morioka (JPN) | ![]() |
3–1 | Win |
World Group, Quarterfinals | 6–8 April | Genoa (ITA) | ![]() |
1–3 | Loss | |
2019 | Group stage | 2–4 February | Kolkata (IND) | ![]() |
3–1 | Win |
Finals | 18 November | Madrid (ESP) | ![]() |
1–2 | Loss | |
Finals | 20 November | Madrid (ESP) | ![]() |
1–2 | Loss | |
2020 | not disputed due to Covid'[9] |
References
- "L'ITALIA E LE SEMIFINALI DI DAVIS. UNA LUNGA STORIA" (in Italian). tennis.it. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Uberto De Morpurgo" (in Italian). federtennis.it. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "L'ITALIA IN COPPA DAVIS" (in Italian). federtennis.it. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "La maledetta finale del 1979" (in Italian). ubitennis.com. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- "Adriano Panatta". sportspundit.com. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
He served as Captain of the Davis Cup team after his retirement...
- "La maledetta finale del 1979" (in Italian). ubitennis.com. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- "ATP Cup: Ecco la composizione delle prime squadre. L'Italia con il doppio Vavassori-Bolelli?" (in Italian). livetennis.it. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Italy - Profile". daviscup.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
Year played = 90
- "2020 Davis Cup Finals to be postponed until 2021". Daviscup.com. Retrieved 26 June 2020.