has suffered four whitewash defeats – losing 5–0 to Australia in 1949 and 1955 and the United States 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 and in 1979 against Czechoslovakia. 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 Uberto De Morpurgo, who was also a player on that occasion. Beginning in the 1950s, the team captain's position became a kind of coach 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 Davis Cup since 1922. 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 Notes See also List of Italy Davis Cup team representatives Tennis in Italy Italy Fed Cup team References External links Davis Cup teams Davis Cup Davis Cup