The Davis Cup's rise to become the biggest annual international competition in world sport began in a Harvard University locker room in 1899 when a group of graduates conceived a challenge competition against Great Britain.

One of that group, Dwight Davis, designed the trophy and played in the first match in 1900, which was won by the United States. In 1905 the competition was expanded to also include Belgium, Austria, France and Australasia.

The US and Great Britain shared the majority of the early titles, but the British challenge faded following the 1936 victory by Fred Perry's team and from 1937 until 1973 only the US and Australia got their hands on the trophy.

That dominance became harder to sustain from 1972, when Davis Cup officials changed it from a challenge tournament, requiring the champions to defend their title through the early rounds, rather than just in the final, for the first time.

The year 1972 also saw the beginning of the extraordinary reign of Bjorn Borg, who became the youngest ever winner of a Davis Cup rubber at the age of 15 when he defeated New Zealand's Onny Parun in Bastad.

Between 1973 and 1980 Borg set a record by winning 33 consecutive singles rubbers in the competition. However, Sweden only won the Davis Cup once in that time, with victory over Czechoslovakia in the 1975 final.

In recent years the spread of success in the competition has increased, with Croatia becoming the first unseeded nation to win the trophy in 2005.