戴维斯杯网球赛The Davis Cup is the international team event in men's . The largest annual team competition in sport, the Davis Cup is run by the and is contested between teams of players from the competing countries in a knock-out format. The women's equivalent of the Davis Cup is the (known as the Federation Cup before ). Each round consists of 5 matches (known as a rubber or a tie) between two countries. The first two matches are singles, the third is a doubles match, and in the last two matches (the reverse singles) the first contestants play again, but swap opponents from the earlier matches. There is no restriction on who may play the doubles match: the two singles players, two other players (usually doubles specialists) or a combination. If one team has already clinched the rubber, either team may change the players it uses in the reverse singles, with the only restrictions being that the players involved be on the original team roster and the matchups from the first singles matches cannot be repeated. All rubbers are normally best-of-5 sets. If a team has clinched the rubber before all 5 matches are played, any remaining reverse singles matches are shortened to best-of-3 sets. The tournament was conceived in by four members of the tennis team who came up with the idea of challenging the British to a tennis showdown. Once the idea received the go ahead from the respective lawn tennis associations, one of the four Harvard players, , designed a tournament format and spent the money from his own pocket to purchase an appropriate sterling silver trophy. The first match, between the and was held in in . The American team, of which Dwight Davis was a part, surprised the Britis...
