A total of 566 players from 122 nations contested the 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas in another memorable year for the competition. Switzerland, led by Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, became only the 14th nation to win the 115-year-old event after defeating France 3-1 in the Final in Lille on 21-23 November.
The Final attracted a record number of spectators for an officially-sanctioned tennis event with a crowd of 27,448 on Sunday in Lille. This brought the total attendance for Davis Cup in 2014 to 600,000 spectators.
Davis Cup was played in 58 countries in 2014, with a total of 82 home-and-away ties and seven group events held in the World Group and three regional zones: Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe/Africa.
It was another successful year for Davis Cup on television, with the Final shown by 41 broadcasters in 158 territories. The Swiss broadcaster SRG saw market shares of over 50 per cent on its three television channels, while France Television recorded a 25 per cent market share on Saturday. Throughout 2014, a total of 76 broadcasters showed Davis Cup in 168 territories.
The Davis Cup websites in English and Spanish have shown a 30 per cent growth in 2014, with 6.8 million visits, 3.5 million unique visitors and over 30 million page views achieved by the end of the Final. The 2014 Final saw a record website audience with almost 1.4 million visitor sessions. The competition’s social media properties in English, Spanish and Chinese have seen a 90 per cent increase in users this year, with 180,000 Twitter followers and 300,000 Facebook likes.
A key factor in the success of Davis Cup in 2014 has been the launch of Show Your Colours, a new fan-focused campaign to promote Davis Cup and Fed Cup as the world cups of tennis, and already used by over 60 nations globally. Building on the unique team nature of both competitions, Show Your Colours uses branding elements for promotion, in-stadium activities and all of the ITF’s website and social media activity.
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "It has been an outstanding year for Davis Cup, with strong player participation, record attendances, and increasing TV and online audiences. The competition has continued to capture the imagination of both players and fans throughout the world in the unique atmosphere of a team environment."
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in sport, with 122 nations taking part in 2014. The competition is 115 years old having been founded in 1900. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Davis Cup. International sponsors are Rolex (Official Timekeeper) Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and NH Hotels (Official Hotel), while Wilson Sporting Goods (Official Ball) is an international partner. Follow all the action on www.daviscup.com, www.copadavis.com, www.twitter.com/daviscup, www.facebook.com/DavisCupTennis and www.daviscup.tv.
For more information, please contact:
ITF Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 4632
Email: communications@itftennis.com
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