1981 Davis Cup
Details
Duration6 March – 13 December 1981
Edition70th
Teams51
Champion
Winning Nation United States
1980
1982

The 1981 Davis Cup (also known as the 1981 Davis Cup by NEC for sponsorship purposes) was the 70th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 53 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the World Group, 23 in the Europe Zone, 8 in the Americas Zone, and 6 in the Eastern Zone.

The United States defeated Argentina in the final, held at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States on 11–13 December, to win their 27th title overall.[1][2]

Format changes

The 1981 tournament marked the introduction of the 16-team World Group and a move to a tiered system including promotion and relegation. The original 16 teams to compete were chosen through the previous year's results, with teams that reached the Zonal semifinals chosen to compete in the inaugural bracket. Teams which lost in the World Group first round would now compete against each other in the World Group Relegation Play-off, with the four losers relegated to their respective Zonal competition the following year. The four winners of the Zonal competitions would now earn promotion into the following year's World Group to replace the relegated teams.[3][4]

The 16 qualifying teams for the first World Group were: from the 1980 Americas Zone, the North & Central America Zone finalists the United States and Mexico, and the South America Zone finalists Argentina and Brazil; the 1980 Eastern Zone semifinalists Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea; and the semifinalists from the two Europe Zones Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, France, Italy, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and West Germany.

This year also marked the first year of commercial sponsorship, when Japanese electronics company NEC became the tournament's first Title Sponsor, a partnership that lasted 21 years in total. NEC's partnership also enabled prize money to be given for the first time, with the World Group team competing for a total of US$1 million.[3][4][5]

World Group

Participating teams

Argentina

Australia

Brazil

Czechoslovakia

France

Great Britain

Italy

Japan

Mexico

New Zealand

Romania

South Korea

Sweden

Switzerland

United States

West Germany

Draw

Final

United States vs. Argentina


United States
3
Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, United States[2]
11–13 December 1981
Carpet (indoors)

Argentina
1
1 2 3 4 5
1 United States
Argentina
John McEnroe
Guillermo Vilas
6
3
6
2
6
2
     
2 United States
Argentina
Roscoe Tanner
José Luis Clerc
5
7
3
6
6
8
     
3 United States
Argentina
Peter Fleming / John McEnroe
José Luis Clerc / Guillermo Vilas
6
3
4
6
6
4
4
6
11
9
 
4 United States
Argentina
John McEnroe
José Luis Clerc
7
5
5
7
6
3
3
6
6
3
 
5 United States
Argentina
Roscoe Tanner
Guillermo Vilas
11
10
        not
completed

Relegation play-offs

Date: 2–4 October

Home teamScoreVisiting teamLocationSurface
 Brazil2–3 West GermanySão PauloClay
 Italy4–1 South KoreaSanremoClay
 France4–1 JapanParisClay
 Mexico3–2  SwitzerlandTijuanaClay

Americas Zone

Sub-Zonal Semifinals
9–11 January
Sub-Zonal Finals
13–15 February
Inter-Zonal Final
6–8 March
Bogotá, Colombia (clay)
 Colombia3
Bogotá, Colombia (clay)
 Canada2
 Colombia5
Caracas, Venezuela (hard)
 Venezuela0
 Venezuela4
Bogotá, Colombia (indoor clay)
 Caribbean/West Indies1
 Colombia2
Lima, Peru (clay)
 Chile3
 Peru1
Santiago, Chile (clay)
 Chile4
 Chile5
Guayaquil, Ecuador (clay)
 Uruguay0
 Ecuador2
 Uruguay3
  •  Chile are promoted to the World Group in 1982.

Eastern Zone

Quarterfinals
9–11 January
Semifinals
13–15 February
Final
6–8 March
 India
Bangkok, Thailand (hard)
bye
 India5
Bangkok, Thailand (hard)
 Thailand0
 Malaysia0
Jakarta, Indonesia (clay)
 Thailand5
 India3
Taipei, Taiwan (indoor hard)
 Indonesia2
 Indonesia4
Jakarta, Indonesia (clay)
 Chinese Taipei1
 Indonesia3
 Pakistan0
bye
 Pakistan
  •  India are promoted to the World Group in 1982.

Europe Zone

Zone A

First round
8–10 May
Quarterfinals
10–14 June
Semifinals
9–11 July
Final
25–27 September
 Spain
Algiers, Algeria (clay)
bye
 Spain5
 Algeria0
 Zimbabwe
Lleida, Spain (clay)
 Algeriaw/o
 Spain5
 Monaco0
 Poland
Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay)
bye
 Poland2
Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay)
 Monaco3
 Morocco1
Avilés, Spain (clay)
 Monaco3
 Spain3
 Hungary2
 Hungary
Cairo, Egypt (clay)
bye
 Hungary4
Cairo, Egypt (clay)
 Egypt1
 Egypt5
Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard)
 Greece0
 Hungary3
 Israel2
 Yugoslavia
Skopje, Yugoslavia (clay)
bye
 Yugoslavia1
 Israel4
bye
 Israel
  •  Spain are promoted to the World Group in 1982.

Zone B

First round
8–10 May
Quarterfinals
12–14 June
Semifinals
9–11 July
Final
25–27 September
 Austria
Salzburg, Austria (clay)
bye
 Austria3
Aarhus, Denmark (clay)
 Denmark2
 Denmark5
Pörtschach, Austria (clay)
 Portugal0
 Austria0
 Soviet Union4
 Soviet Union
Jūrmala, Soviet Union (clay)
bye
 Soviet Union4
 Belgium1
 Belgiumw/o
Jūrmala, Soviet Union (clay)
 Turkey
 Soviet Union5
 Netherlands0
 Finland
Helsinki, Finland (clay)
bye
 Finland3
Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg (clay)
 Bulgaria2
 Luxembourg0
Helsinki, Finland (clay)
 Bulgaria5
 Finland0
 Netherlands5
 Netherlands
Eindhoven, Netherlands (clay)
bye
 Netherlands4
Oslo, Norway (clay)
 Ireland1
 Norway2
 Ireland3

References

General
  • "World Group 1981". DavisCup.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
Specific
  1. Bud Collins (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 495–496, 499. ISBN 978-0942257700.
  2. 1 2 "United States v Argentina". daviscup.com.
  3. 1 2 "ITF Events - Davis Cup". itftennis.com. International Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Davis Cup History". daviscup.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  5. Collett, Mike (2 March 1981). "The new-look 1981 Davis Cup tennis competition gets under..." London. United Press International. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
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