The Italy men's national tennis team represents Italy in

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

competition and is governed by the

Italian Tennis Federation The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation (, FITP since 2023; formerly , FIT) is the national governing body for the tennis sport in Italy. History The FITP, originally ''Federazione Italiana Lawn Tennis'' (FILT), was born in Florence in 1910 wi ...

. Italy is the reigning champions, claiming the Davis Cup in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. It is three-time champions overall, also winning in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, and finishing as runners-up six times (1960, 1961, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1998).

Nicola Pietrangeli Nicola "Nicky" Pietrangeli (; born 11 September 1933) is an Italian former tennis player. He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champions. Biography Nicola Chirinsky ...

is one of Italy's most decorated players, featuring in all major records for the team. He holds the record for most Davis Cup ties, most overall wins, most singles wins, most doubles wins (both individually and as part of a team), and most years played.

History

Early years pre-World War II

Italy competed in its first Davis Cup in the

1922 International Lawn Tennis Challenge The 1922 International Lawn Tennis Challenge was the 17th edition of what is now known as the Davis Cup. The tournament saw first-time entries from Italy and Romania. Australasia would storm through the preliminary round, but would fall to defend ...

. Prior to World War II, Italy generally made it to the quarterfinals of the European Zone and featured in the Inter-zonal final twice – once in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and once in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

. The Inter-zonal final was the final match of competition before the Challenge Round match, where the winner would earn the right to challenge the defending champion. On both occasions, Italy lost to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

by a scoreline of 4–1.

Uberto De Morpurgo Uberto De Morpurgo (11 January 1896 – 26 February 1961) was an Italian tennis player. Uberto De Morpurgo was born in Trieste when it was part of Austria, but became an Italian citizen when the city changed hands after World War I. His world ...

was the Davis Cup captain for both matches and was the only player to register a win in his two single rubbers.

Post World War II – 1962

Two years after the resumption of the tournament which was put on hold due to World War II, Italy made its first reappearance in 1948. Italy was very strong over this period, appearing in four Inter-zonal finals in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

before finally securing its maiden Challenge Round tie in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. Unfortunately, Italy were unable to overcome a strong

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

team featuring

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...

and

Neale Fraser Neale Andrew Fraser, (3 October 1933 – 2 December 2024) was an Australian champion tennis player. Fraser is the most recent man to have completed the triple crown (i.e. having won the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles at a Grand S ...

, losing 4–1 at White City in Sydney. Italian legend,

managed to win Italy's only point when he defeated Fraser in a dead-rubber match on the final day. The following year, Italy were again able to reach the Challenge Round Final after defeating the United States 4–1 in the Final in Rome. Pietrangeli won both his singles matches and his doubles match. However, Italy would again fall at the final hurdle. On this occasion, Italy lost 5–0 to Australia at

Kooyong Stadium Kooyong Stadium, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, is an Australian tennis venue, located in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak, adjacent to the namesake suburb of Kooyong. The stadium was built in 1927, and has undergone several renovations. I ...

in Melbourne. The Australian side would again feature Laver (in singles and doubles) and Fraser (in doubles only), and were joined by

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. All of his singles Grand Slam victories and 14 of his ...

who played two singles matches. The Italian side once again featured Pietrangeli and also

Orlando Sirola Orlando Sirola (30 April 1928 – 13 November 1995) was an Italian tennis player. Biography Sirola was born in Fiume, today the Croatian city of Rijeka. He only began playing tennis at the age of 22. In 1958 he won the singles title at the B ...

across all five matches. In

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, Italy lost in the European Final to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

1–4.

Limited success to first Davis Cup title

Following a somewhat lean period from 1963 to 1972, which included only one European Final in 1968, Italy returned to form in the competition with mixed success. In 1973 they made a European Final before going one step further the following year, losing 4–1 to South Africa in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

in the Inter-zonal Semifinals. Two years later, Italy claimed its maiden Davis Cup title when they defeated Chile 4–1 at Estadio Nacional in Santiago. Italy took an early lead on Day 1, after

Corrado Barazzutti Corrado Barazzutti (; born 19 February 1953, in Udine) is a former tennis player from Italy. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 7, achieved in August 1978. After the end of his player career Barazzutti was a coach (sport), non-playing ...

and

Adriano Panatta Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He won the French Open in 1976 French Open – Men's singles, 1976, becoming the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major ...

both won their singles matches. Then Italy took an unassailable 3–0 lead the following day, when Panatta teamed up with

Paolo Bertolucci Paolo Bertolucci (; born 3 August 1951) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He is currently working as a sport commentator for Italian SKY Italia, Sky TV. Bertolucci won the Davis Cup with Italy in 1976. His greatest success on ATP ...

in the doubles, and after finding themselves one-set-to-love down, won the next three sets to win the rubber in four sets. Over the next four years, Italy would reach the Davis Cup final three times, losing all three ties.

World Group era (1981–2000)

Since the World Group format begun in 1981, Italy were able to maintain their top 16 status for twenty years. Italy finished as quarterfinalists or better in twelve of those twenty years, including two semifinal loses and one final loss. In the first four years of the format, Italy played

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

three times in the first round winning two and losing once. This loss came in the first year of World Group format, forcing them into an end of year World Group regelation play-off against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. They won the tie 4–1 at home in

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

earning the right to continue in the World Group for the 1982 edition. In 1986, Italy lost to

in the quarterfinals and then again in the first round of the 1987 edition forcing them once again into a relegation playoff. They were drawn against

for a second playoff match, this time being held in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Once again Italy prevailed in the match, 3–2, avoiding relegation into the Europe/Africa Zone for 1988. Sweden defeated Italy for a third time in the new format in the first round of the 1989 Davis Cup World Group. Italy survived the playoff by defeating

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

4–1 away in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

. Italy finally defeated Sweden in their fourth meeting of the new format, with a 3–2 home win in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

in the first round of the

1990 Davis Cup The 1990 Davis Cup (also known as the 1990 Davis Cup by NEC for sponsorship purposes) was the 79th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 85 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the Wo ...

. However, they would lose 5–0 to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the quarterfinals. In the

2000 Davis Cup The 2000 Davis Cup (also known as the 2000 Davis Cup by NEC for sponsorship purposes) was the 89th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 135 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World ...

, Italy lost 4–1 away to Spain setting them up for World Group Playoff clash against Belgium. Playing at home in Rome, Italy lost the tie 4–1, meaning they would be relegated for the first time in the World Group era.

Relegation and return to World Group

After Italy's World Group playoff loss, they were relegated to Europe/Africa Zone Group I for the 2001 edition of the tournament. Italy would not return to the World Group until they defeated Chile 4–1 away in the 2011 Davis Cup World Group play-offs. Between 2013 and 2018, Italy were defeated in the Quarterfinals on four occasions and once in the Semifinals. Since the restructuring of the competition in 2019, Italy has made it into the Semifinals in 2022.

Return to the top

Twenty-five years after the last final (1998) and 47 years after the last victory (1976), on 26 November 2023 Italy returned to win the

, beating

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

2–0. On 24 November 2024,

Jannik Sinner Jannik Sinner (born 16 August 2001) is an Italian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the ATP, the first Italian to reach the top ranking. Sinner has won 19 singles titles on the ATP Tour ...

won the deciding game to beat the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

2-0 and give Italy the third Davis Cup, which adds up to Italy's women winning the Billie Jean King Cup title on the same year.

Overall performance

Italy has played no less than 15 semifinals. Italy has recorded eight defeats and seven wins. Of those eight losses, Italy has suffered four whitewash defeats – losing 5–0 to

in 1949 and 1955 and the

in 1952 and 1958. Of the seven semifinals won, the greatest margin was a 4–1 victory, achieved on four occasions. These wins occurred in 1961 and 1998 against the United States, in 1977 against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and in 1979 against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

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

2020s

Current squad

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

, who was also a player on that occasion. Beginning in the 1950s, the team captain's position became a kind of

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

called the ''non-playing captain''. ; Notes ¹ Crotta replaced Bergamo as captain after the Semifinals during the 1979 campaign.

Individual and team records

Most ties and wins

Performance timeline

The Italian team has participated in 91 editions of the

since 1922.

Record

Since Italy's debut in 1922, they have played against 48 nations with a winning record against 36 nations. As of 9 July 2024, Italy has a perfect 100% winning record against 19 nations. The best of these is against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, achieving 100% of wins after 9 ties. Italy has not won a tie against three nations. The worst of these is against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, as they have been unable to record a win after four ties.

Results

Key to eras and positions result

* Challenge Round era (until 1971): the previous Davis Cup Champion would have a bye to and host the Challenge Round Final. Thus the losing team in the Final (or Inter-zonal final) was the third-placed team. For the purposes of this table, the third placed team is grouped as semifinalists and the Zonal finalists (fourth and fifth placed teams) are grouped as quarterfinalists. * 1972–1980: the previous Davis Cup Champion now had to compete in all rounds. There were four zones consisting of America, Eastern, Europe A and Europe B, with the competition culminating in a four team knockout between zonal winners. The zonal finalists were the equivalent of Davis Cup quarterfinalists. * Since 1981: World Group (1981–2018), Davis Cup Finals (from 2019) consisting of 16 or 18 teams. * Abbreviations: POW = Winner of World Group Playoff (1981–2018); POL = Lost in World Group Playoff (1981–2018); GS = Did not advance past the Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals (from 2019); DNQ = Did not qualify for World Group Playoff

Results table

Winning teams

1976 *

* Tonino Zugarelli * Cap.

2023 * * * * * * Cap.

Filippo Volandri Filippo Volandri (; born 5 September 1981) is an Italian tennis coach and former professional player. Volandri reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and earned almost $4 million in priz ...