Russia wins the Davis Cup this year: The origin and history behind this tournament

After a long wait of 15 years, Russia finally emerged victorious at the 2021 Davis Cup tournament. The country was led to its third Davis Cup title by Daniil Medvedev, who is the reigning the US Open championship. The world number 2 tennis star secured a 2-0 victory against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, and ended his successful year with a 7-6(7), 6-2 win. The tournament took place at the well-known Madrid Arena in Spain. Here is all you need to know about this popular tennis tournament. 

What is the Davis Cup? 
The Davis Cup is an important international sports event in men’s tennis. It hosts both formats of the sport: Singles as well as doubles. Run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), this tournament takes place every year. Many people dub as the ‘World Cup’ of tennis.  

History of the Davis Cup 
The very first Davis Cup tournament was held all the way back in 1900. It took place at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston. Initially, Davis Cup was a tennis competition between just two countries, namely USA and Great Britain, with the former securing the first win with an unassailable 3-0 lead against its transatlantic opponent. Since then, the tournament opened up to a wider scope and allowed other countries to participate in it. France, Belgium, Austria and Australasia (a combined team of players from Australia and New Zealand) competed in 1905, with the number of countries gradually expanding to 20 by the 1920s. Today, it is regarded as the largest annual international team competition in sport in the world.  

Who came up with the concept of the Davis Cup? 
The year preceding the first Davis Cup tournament, a group of 4 members of Harvard’s tennis team chalked up the idea of a sports competition. USA’s official tennis association was keen on assessing American players’ competence in the sport against the British. Prior to the Davis Cup, the two countries had held matches and tournaments against each other which had a positive effect on the diplomatic relations between them. As a consequence of this, the idea to hold an annual tournament proved to be a smart decision. Dwight Davis, one of the four players from Harvard, came up with a format of the tournament and also bought a trophy for the same. Since then, what was once called the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, came to be known as the Davis Cup.