1979 Davis Cup

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
Duration	August 1978 – 16 December 1979
Edition	68th
Teams	49
Champion
Winning nation	United States
← 1978 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Indies teams had all pulled out of the 1978 tournament, and in 1977 the United States, Great Britain and France had all withdrawn in protest to the continued politicisation of the Cup before eventually re-entering following concessions.^[2][3] South Africa would not be allowed to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]

Americas Zone

Main article: 1979 Davis Cup Americas Zone

North & Central America Zone

Preliminary rounds

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Mexico
						Mexico City, Mexico (clay)
	bye
						Mexico		3
						Canada		2
	bye
	Canada
	Colombia
						Bogotá, Colombia
	bye
						Colombia		4
	Nassau, Bahamas
						Venezuela		1
	Caribbean/West Indies		2
	Venezuela		3

Main Draw

	Semifinals 8–10 December 1978					Final 16–18 March
	United States
						Cleveland, Ohio, United States (indoor hard)
	bye
						United States		5
	Mexico City, Mexico (clay)
						Colombia		0
	Mexico		2
	Colombia		3

South America Zone

Preliminary rounds

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Argentina
						Guayaquil, Ecuador (indoor carpet)
	bye
						Argentina		4
	Guayaquil, Ecuador (indoor carpet)
						Ecuador		1
	Ecuador		4
	Peru		1
	Cochabamba, Bolivia (clay)
	Bolivia		0
						Itu, Brazil
	Brazil		5
						Brazil		4
						Uruguay		0
	bye
	Uruguay

Main Draw

	Semifinals 8–10 December 1978					Final 16–18 March
	Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay)
	Argentina		5
						Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay)
	Brazil		0
						Argentina		3
						Chile		2
	bye
	Chile

Americas Inter-Zonal Final

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

Eastern Zone

Main article: 1979 Davis Cup Eastern Zone

Preliminary rounds

	Pre-qualifying round					Preliminary round
	Philippines
	bye
						Philippines
	Peshawar, Pakistan
						Pakistan		w/o
	Pakistan		3
	South Korea		2
	Chinese Taipei		w/o
						Jakarta, Indonesia
	Malaysia
						Chinese Taipei		0
						Indonesia		4
	bye
	Indonesia

Main Draw

Quarterfinals 5–10 December 1978

Semifinals 9–12 February

Final 16–19 March

New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand (grass)

bye

New Zealand

3

Kasuga, Japan

Japan

0

Japan

4

Christchurch, New Zealand (grass)

Pakistan

1

New Zealand

2

Ahmedabad, India

Australia

3

Indonesia

1

Madras, India (clay)

India

4

India

2

Australia

3

bye

Australia

Final

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

Europe Zone

Main article: 1979 Davis Cup Europe Zone

Zone A

Preliminary rounds

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Poland
						Warsaw, Poland
	bye
						Poland		4
	Helsinki, Finland
						Finland		1
	Finland		5
	Morocco		0
	Italy
						Palermo, Italy (clay)
	bye
						Italy		5
	Athens, Greece (clay)
						Denmark		0
	Greece		1
	Denmark		4
	Austria
						Vienna, Austria
	bye
						Austria		5
	Cairo, Egypt (clay)
						Egypt		0
	Egypt		5
	Portugal		0
	Spain
						Barcelona, Spain
	bye
						Spain		5
	Monte Carlo, Monaco
						Soviet Union		0
	Monaco		1
	Soviet Union		4

Main Draw

Quarterfinals 15–17 June

Semifinals 13–15 July

Final 14–16 September

Hungary

Rome, Italy (clay)

bye

Hungary

2

Warsaw, Poland

Italy

3

Poland

1

Rome, Italy (clay)

Italy

4

Italy

4

Vienna, Austria

Great Britain

1

Austria

1

Eastbourne, United Kingdom (grass)

Spain

3

Spain

1

Great Britain

4

bye

Great Britain

Final

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

Zone B

Pre-qualifying round

	Pre-qualifying round
	Ankara, Turkey
	Turkey		0
	Iran		5

Preliminary rounds

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Amersfoort, Netherlands (clay)
	Netherlands		4
						Amsterdam, Netherlands (indoor carpet)
	Norway		1
						Netherlands		2
						France		3
	bye
	France
	Geneva, Switzerland
	Switzerland		3
						Zürich, Switzerland
	Iran		2
						Switzerland		4
						Yugoslavia		1
	bye
	Yugoslavia
	Israel		w/o
						Augsburg, West Germany
	Nigeria
						Israel		2
						West Germany		3
	bye
	West Germany
	Brussels, Belgium
	Belgium		5
						Brussels, Belgium
	Ireland		0
						Belgium		1
						Romania		4
	bye
	Romania

Main Draw

Quarterfinals 15–17 June

Semifinals 13–15 July

Final 14–16 September

Czechoslovakia

Paris, France (clay)

bye

Czechoslovakia

4

Paris, France (clay)

France

1

France

5

Prague, Czechoslovakia (clay)

Switzerland

0

Czechoslovakia

3

Bucharest, Romania (clay)

Sweden

2

Romania

4

Bucharest, Romania (clay)

West Germany

1

Romania

2

Sweden

3

bye

Sweden

Final

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

Inter-Zonal Zone

Draw

	Semifinals 5–8 October					Final 14–16 December
	Sydney, Australia (grass)
	AME	United States	4
						San Francisco, United States (indoor carpet)
	EAS	Australia	1
						AME	United States	5
	Rome, Italy (clay)
						EUR-A	Italy	0
	EUR-B	Czechoslovakia	1
	EUR-A	Italy	4

Semifinals

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

Final

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