1979 Davis Cup


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The 1979 Davis Cup was the 68th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 52 teams would enter the competition, 29 in the Europe Zone, 13 in the Americas Zone, and 10 in the Eastern Zone.

1979 Davis Cup
Details
DurationAugust 1978 – 16 December 1979
Edition68th
Teams49
Champion
Winning nation United States

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1980 →

Following years of protests from various national sides, South Africa were expelled from the Davis Cup for failing to abandon its apartheid policies. For many years the Davis Cup organisers had been reluctant to let political issues affect the competition, however following several years of defaults by national teams and threats of a boycott, the organisers of the tournament were forced to resolve the political disagreements by expelling the South African side.[1] Canada, Mexico, Venezuela and the Caribbean/West Indies teams had all pulled out of the 1978 tournament, and in 1977 the United States, Great Britain and France had all withdrawn in protest to the continued politicisation of the Cup before eventually re-entering following concessions.[2][3] South Africa would not be allowed to participate again in the Davis Cup until 1992, when significant progress had been made to bring about the end of apartheid.

The United States defeated Argentina in the Americas Inter-Zonal final, Australia defeated New Zealand in the Eastern Zone final, and Italy and Czechoslovakia were the winners of the two Europe Zones, defeating Great Britain and Sweden respectively.

In the Inter-Zonal Zone, the United States defeated Australia and Italy defeated Czechoslovakia in the semifinals. The United States then defeated Italy in the final to win their 26th title overall and their second consecutive title. The final was held at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, United States on 14–16 December.[4][5]

North & Central America Zone

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Americas Inter-Zonal Final

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United States vs. Argentina

 
United States
4 		Racquet Club of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States[6]
14–16 September 1979
Carpet (indoors) 		 
Argentina
1
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Vitas Gerulaitis
José Luis Clerc 		6
1 		7
5 		6
1 		     
2  
  		John McEnroe
Guillermo Vilas 		6
2 		6
3 		6
2 		     
3  
  		Bob Lutz / Stan Smith
José Luis Clerc / Guillermo Vilas 		2
6 		4
6 		11
9 		6
4 		6
1 		 
4  
  		John McEnroe
José Luis Clerc 		6
2 		6
3 		       
5  
  		Vitas Gerulaitis
Guillermo Vilas 		7
9 		3
0 		      retired
 

New Zealand vs. Australia

 
New Zealand
2 		Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand[7]
16–19 March 1979
Grass 		 
Australia
3
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Onny Parun
Mark Edmondson 		3
6 		6
3 		6
3 		6
2 		   
2  
  		Russell Simpson
John Alexander 		4
6 		6
4 		5
7 		4
6 		   
3  
  		Onny Parun / Russell Simpson
John Alexander / Phil Dent 		4
6 		7
9 		3
6 		     
4  
  		Russell Simpson
Mark Edmondson 		3
6 		2
6 		4
6 		     
5  
  		Onny Parun
John Alexander 		7
5 		6
3 		6
3 		     

Italy vs. Great Britain

 
Italy
4 		Foro Italico, Rome, Italy[8]
14–16 September 1979
Clay 		 
Great Britain
1
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Adriano Panatta
Buster Mottram 		0
6 		4
6 		4
6 		     
2  
  		Corrado Barazzutti
John Lloyd 		6
1 		6
4 		6
4 		     
3  
  		Corrado Barazzutti / Antonio Zugarelli
Mark Cox / David Lloyd 		7
5 		10
8 		6
1 		     
4  
  		Adriano Panatta
John Lloyd 		6
3 		6
2 		6
3 		     
5  
  		Corrado Barazzutti
Buster Mottram 		8
6 		7
5 		       

Pre-qualifying round

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Czechoslovakia vs. Sweden

 
Czechoslovakia
3 		Štvanice Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia[9]
14–16 September 1979
Clay 		 
Sweden
2
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Tomáš Šmíd
Kjell Johansson 		6
4 		6
3 		6
2 		     
2  
  		Ivan Lendl
Björn Borg 		4
6 		5
7 		2
6 		     
3  
  		Jan Kodeš / Tomáš Šmíd
Ove Bengtson / Björn Borg 		2
6 		6
3 		6
4 		6
0 		   
4  
  		Ivan Lendl
Kjell Johansson 		8
10 		6
4 		6
4 		4
6 		6
1 		 
5  
  		Tomáš Šmíd
Per Hjertquist 		3
5 		        retired
 

Australia vs. United States

 
Australia
1 		White City Stadium, Sydney, Australia[10]
5–8 October 1979
Grass 		 
United States
4
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Mark Edmondson
Vitas Gerulaitis 		8
6 		16
14 		8
10 		3
6 		3
6 		 
2  
  		John Alexander
John McEnroe 		7
9 		2
6 		7
9 		     
3  
  		John Alexander / Phil Dent
Bob Lutz / Stan Smith 		9
7 		6
4 		6
4 		     
4  
  		John Alexander
Vitas Gerulaitis 		7
5 		4
6 		6
8 		2
6 		   
5  
  		Mark Edmondson
John McEnroe 		3
6 		4
6 		       

Italy vs. Czechoslovakia

 
Italy
4 		Foro Italico, Rome, Italy[11]
5–7 October 1979
Clay 		 
Czechoslovakia
1
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Corrado Barazzutti
Tomáš Šmíd 		1
6 		6
3 		1
6 		6
3 		5
7 		 
2  
  		Adriano Panatta
Ivan Lendl 		6
4 		1
6 		6
0 		6
0 		   
3  
  		Paolo Bertolucci / Adriano Panatta
Jan Kodeš / Tomáš Šmíd 		6
8 		6
2 		6
1 		6
2 		   
4  
  		Corrado Barazzutti
Ivan Lendl 		4
6 		6
1 		6
2 		3
6 		7
5 		 
5  
  		Adriano Panatta
Tomáš Šmíd 		6
3 		6
2 		       

United States vs. Italy

 
United States
5 		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, United States[5]
14–16 December 1979
Carpet (indoors) 		 
Italy
0
1 2 3 4 5
1  
  		Vitas Gerulaitis
Corrado Barazzutti 		6
2 		3
2 		       
retired
2  
  		John McEnroe
Adriano Panatta 		6
2 		6
3 		6
4 		     
3  
  		Bob Lutz / Stan Smith
Paolo Bertolucci / Adriano Panatta 		6
4 		12
10 		6
2 		     
4  
  		John McEnroe
Antonio Zugarelli 		6
4 		6
3 		6
1 		     
5  
  		Vitas Gerulaitis
Adriano Panatta 		6
1 		6
3 		6
3 		     
  1. ^ "South Africa Expelled from Cup Play". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. 17 April 1978. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Canada heads pullout from 1978 Davis Cup". Montreal Gazette. Reuters. 4 July 1977. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  3. ^ "U.S. Withdraws from Davis Cup". Deseret News. Associated Press. 1 July 1976. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  4. ^ Bud Collins (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 495–496, 499. ISBN 978-0942257700.
  5. ^ a b "United States v Italy". daviscup.com.
  6. ^ "United States v Argentina". daviscup.com.
  7. ^ "New Zealand v Australia". daviscup.com.
  8. ^ "Italy v Great Britain". daviscup.com.
  9. ^ "Czechoslovakia v Sweden". daviscup.com.
  10. ^ "Australia v United States". daviscup.com.
  11. ^ "Italy v Czechoslovakia". daviscup.com.