Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/209745
Elimination of Both Previous Year's Finalists in Opening Round There have been only four occasions since the establishment of the Final Round in 1972 that both the previous year's finalists were eliminated in the opening round: 1976 Champion Sweden lost to Italy Runner-up Czechoslovakia lost to Hungary 1993 Champion USA lost to Australia Runner-up Switzerland lost to India 1999 Champion Sweden lost to Slovak Republic Runner-up Italy lost to Switzerland 2005 Champion Spain lost to Slovak Republic Runner-up USA lost to Croatia Best Performances by Unseeded Nations in the World Group In 2010, Serbia became the second unseeded nation to win the Davis Cup since the introduction of the World Group in 1981. The 2010 Final was also the second final between two unseeded nations. Unseeded nations have reached the Final on 12 occasions: Year Unseeded Nation Reaching Final Result of Final 1982 France lost to USA 1-4 1985 Germany lost to Sweden 2-3 1987 India lost to Sweden 0-5 1990 Australia lost to USA 2-3 1992 Switzerland lost to USA 1-3 1993 Australia lost to Germany 1-4 1994 Russia lost to Sweden 1-4 2005 Croatia defeated Slovak Republic 3-2 2005 Slovak Republic lost to Croatia 2-3 2009 Czech Republic lost to Spain 5-0 2010 Serbia defeated France 3-2 2010 France lost to Serbia 2-3 In total, there have been 32 occasions when unseeded nations have reached the Davis Cup semifinals, with 12 going on to reach the final, as above. Two unseeded nations have reached the Davis Cup semifinals on eight occasions: Year Unseeded Nation Reaching Semifinals Year Unseeded Nation Reaching Semifinals 1987 India 2005 Croatia Spain 1992 Slovak Republic Brazil 2007 Switzerland 1993 Sweden Australia 2009 India 1999 Germany Czech Republic Israel Belgium 2010 Russia France Serbia 2013 Davis Cup Final Media Guide | Nation Records, Statistics & Ranking 65