text: Two years after the resumption of the tournament which was put on hold due to World War II, Italy made its first reappearance in 1948. Italy was very strong over this period, appearing in four Inter-zonal finals in 1949, 1952, 1955 and 1958 before finally securing its maiden Challenge Round tie in 1960. Unfortunately, Italy were unable to overcome a strong Australian team featuring Rod Laver and Neale Fraser, losing 4–1 at White City in Sydney. Italian legend, Nicola Pietrangeli managed to win Italy's only point when he defeated Fraser in a dead-rubber match on the final day. The following year, Italy were again able to reach the Challenge Round Final after defeating the United States 4–1 in the Final in Rome. Pietrangeli won both his singles matches and his doubles match. However, Italy would again fall at the final hurdle. On this occasion, Italy lost 5–0 to Australia at Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne. The Australian side would again feature Laver (in singles and doubles) and Fraser (in doubles only), and were joined by Roy Emerson who played two singles matches. The Italian side once again featured Pietrangeli and also Orlando Sirola across all five matches. In 1962, Italy lost in the European Final to Sweden 1–4.
  Limited success to first Davis Cup title