Davis Cup teams will no longer have to play a fifth match if one side already has an unbeatable 3-1 lead. The International Tennis Federation announced the new "dead rubber" rule on Wednesday ahead of this weekend's World Group first-round matches.
Under the change, if one team clinches victory in the best-of-five series after the fourth match on Sunday— the first reverse singles— and that match lasted at least four sets, the captains can agree to scrap the second reverse singles.
However, all five matches still have to be played if a team earns an unbeatable 3-0 lead after Saturday's doubles, or the tie is decided after the fourth match which has gone only three sets. All "dead rubbers" will continue to be played over best-of-three tiebreaker sets.
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