1981 Davis Cup

Details
Duration	6 March – 13 December 1981
Edition	70th
Teams	51
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

First round 6–8 March

Quarterfinals 9–12 July

Semifinals 2–4 October

Final 11–13 December

Munich, West Germany (indoor carpet)

West Germany

2

Timișoara, Romania (hard)

Argentina

3

Argentina

3

Timișoara, Romania (indoor hard)

Romania

2

Romania

3

Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay)

Brazil

2

Argentina

5

Brighton, United Kingdom (indoor carpet)

Great Britain

0

Great Britain

3

Christchurch, New Zealand (carpet)

Italy

2

Great Britain

4

Seoul, South Korea (clay)

New Zealand

1

South Korea

0

Cincinnati, OH, United States (indoor carpet)

New Zealand

5

Argentina

1

Yokohama, Japan (indoor carpet)

United States

3

Japan

0

Båstad, Sweden (clay)

Sweden

5

Sweden

1

Lyon, France (indoor carpet)

Australia

3

France

2

Portland, OR, United States (indoor carpet)

Australia

3

Australia

0

Zürich, Switzerland (indoor hard)

United States

5

Switzerland

2

New York City, United States (hard)

Czechoslovakia

3

Czechoslovakia

1

Carlsbad, CA, United States (hard)

United States

4

United States

3

Mexico

2

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

Relegation play-offs

Date: 2–4 October

Home team	Score	Visiting team	Location	Surface
Brazil	2–3	West Germany	São Paulo	Clay
Italy	4–1	South Korea	Sanremo	Clay
France	4–1	Japan	Paris	Clay
Mexico	3–2	Switzerland	Tijuana	Clay

•   France,   Italy,   Mexico and   West Germany remain in the World Group in 1982.
•   Brazil,   Japan,   South Korea and    Switzerland are relegated to Zonal competition in 1982.

Americas Zone

Sub-Zonal Semifinals 9–11 January

Sub-Zonal Finals 13–15 February

Inter-Zonal Final 6–8 March

Bogotá, Colombia (clay)

Colombia

3

Bogotá, Colombia (clay)

Canada

2

Colombia

5

Caracas, Venezuela (hard)

Venezuela

0

Venezuela

4

Bogotá, Colombia (indoor clay)

Caribbean/West Indies

1

Colombia

2

Lima, Peru (clay)

Chile

3

Peru

1

Santiago, Chile (clay)

Chile

4

Chile

5

Guayaquil, Ecuador (clay)

Uruguay

0

Ecuador

2

Uruguay

3

•   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

India

5

Bangkok, Thailand (hard)

Thailand

0

Malaysia

0

Jakarta, Indonesia (clay)

Thailand

5

India

3

Taipei, Taiwan (indoor hard)

Indonesia

2

Indonesia

4

Jakarta, Indonesia (clay)

Chinese Taipei

1

Indonesia

3

Pakistan

0

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

Spain

5

Algeria

0

Zimbabwe

Lleida, Spain (clay)

Algeria

w/o

Spain

5

Monaco

0

Poland

Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay)

bye

Poland

2

Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay)

Monaco

3

Morocco

1

Avilés, Spain (clay)

Monaco

3

Spain

3

Hungary

2

Hungary

Cairo, Egypt (clay)

bye

Hungary

4

Cairo, Egypt (clay)

Egypt

1

Egypt

5

Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard)

Greece

0

Hungary

3

Israel

2

Yugoslavia

Skopje, Yugoslavia (clay)

bye

Yugoslavia

1

Israel

4

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

Austria

3

Aarhus, Denmark (clay)

Denmark

2

Denmark

5

Pörtschach, Austria (clay)

Portugal

0

Austria

0

Soviet Union

4

Soviet Union

Jūrmala, Soviet Union (clay)

bye

Soviet Union

4

Belgium

1

Belgium

w/o

Jūrmala, Soviet Union (clay)

Turkey

Soviet Union

5

Netherlands

0

Finland

Helsinki, Finland (clay)

bye

Finland

3

Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg (clay)

Bulgaria

2

Luxembourg

0

Helsinki, Finland (clay)

Bulgaria

5

Finland

0

Netherlands

5

Netherlands

Eindhoven, Netherlands (clay)

bye

Netherlands

4

Oslo, Norway (clay)

Ireland

1

Norway

2

Ireland

3

•   Soviet Union are promoted to the World Group in 1982.

References

General

• "World Group 1981". DavisCup.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.

Specific

External links

• Davis Cup Official Website