The 2002 Davis Cup was the 91st edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 130 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World Group, 28 in the Americas Zone, 32 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 54 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Kyrgyzstan made its first appearances in the tournament.
The 2001 Davis Cup was the 90th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 139 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World Group, 29 in the Americas Zone, 32 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 62 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Angola, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Rwanda made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1998 Davis Cup was the 87th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 131 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World Group, 30 in the Americas Zone, 30 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 55 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Honduras, Iraq, the Netherlands Antilles, Saint Lucia and the U.S. Virgin Islands made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1997 Davis Cup was the 86th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 127 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World Group, 25 in the Americas Zone, 29 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 57 in the Europe/Africa Zone. A new Group VI of competition was added to each regional zone, providing another level of promotion and relegation within each zone. Madagascar, Tajikistan and Uganda made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1995 Davis Cup was the 84th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 115 teams entered the competition, 16 in the World Group, 25 in the Americas Zone, 29 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 45 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Bermuda, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova and Pacific Oceania made their first appearances in the tournament.
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. 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. Nicola Pietrangeli 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, and most years played.
The 1982 Davis Cup was the 71st edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 58 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 22 in the Europe Zone, 10 in the Americas Zone, and 10 in the Eastern Zone. Tunisia made its first appearance in the tournament.
The 1983 Davis Cup was the 72nd edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 60 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 25 in the Europe Zone, 10 in the Eastern Zone, and 9 in the Americas Zone.
The 1984 Davis Cup was the 73rd edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 62 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 25 in the Europe Zone, 12 in the Eastern Zone, and 9 in the Americas Zone. Singapore and Senegal made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1985 Davis Cup was the 74th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 63 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 27 in the Europe Zone, 12 in the Eastern Zone, and 8 in the Americas Zone. Cyprus made its first appearance in the tournament.
The 1986 Davis Cup was the 75th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. This year's tournament marked the introduction of the Africa Zone, which served as a qualifying sub-round for the Europe Zone. 71 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 33 in the Europe Zone, 13 in the Eastern Zone, and 9 in the Americas Zone. Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Libya, Malta and Syria made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1987 Davis Cup was the 76th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 72 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 32 in the Europe Zone, 13 in the Eastern Zone, and 11 in the Americas Zone.
The 1988 Davis Cup was the 77th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. This year's tournament marked the introduction of sub-divisions within each continental zone. Each zone would now feature two groups, with promotion and relegation between the two. This year also saw the Eastern Zone renamed as the Asia/Oceania Zone. 75 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 13 in the Americas Zone, 16 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 30 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Cameroon, Ghana, Haiti, Iraq and Jamaica made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1989 Davis Cup was the 78th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. This year's tournament saw the expansion of the previous World Group Relegation Play-offs round into the World Group Qualifying Round; instead of advancing directly to the World Group, the Zonal Group I winners would now join the World Group first round losers for a chance to compete in the following year's World Group. This year also marked the introduction of the tiebreak, played at 6–6 in all sets except for the final set.
The 1990 Davis Cup 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 World Group, 19 in the Americas Zone, 19 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 31 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Barbados, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago and Zambia made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1991 Davis Cup was the 80th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 88 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 20 in the Americas Zone, 20 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 32 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Congo, the Eastern Caribbean, El Salvador and Saudi Arabia made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1992 Davis Cup was the 81st edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 93 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 21 in the Americas Zone, 23 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 33 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Due to the increased number of entries, the tournament was expanded to add a Group III in all zones, with promotion and relegation between it and Group II. Puerto Rico and Qatar made their first appearances in the tournament, and former champions South Africa returned to the tournament for the first time since 1978.
The 1993 Davis Cup was the 82nd edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 100 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 22 in the Americas Zone, 23 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 39 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Benin, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Djibouti, Latvia, Russia, San Marino, Slovenia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates made their first appearances in the tournament.
The 1994 Davis Cup was the 83rd edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 109 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 22 in the Americas Zone, 23 in the Asia/Oceania Zone, and 39 in the Europe/Africa Zone. Belarus, Brunei, Georgia, Lithuania, Oman, Slovakia, Sudan and Uzbekistan made their first appearances in the tournament.
The World Group was the highest level of Davis Cup competition in 1981. It was the first edition of the newly-formed 16-team World Group and a move to a tiered system including promotion and relegation. The original 16 teams to compete were chosen through the previous year's results, with teams that reached the 1980 Zonal semifinals chosen to compete in the inaugural bracket. The first-round losers would play in the Davis Cup World Group Relegation Play-offs, with the four losers relegated to their respective Zonal competitions the following year and replaced by the four winners of the current year's Zonal competitions.
United States 
