1979 Davis Cup

The 1979 Davis Cup was the 68th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 53 teams would enter the competition, 29 in the Europe Zone, 13 in the Americas Zone, and 10 in the Eastern Zone.

The United States defeated Argentina in the Americas Zone final, Australia defeated New Zealand in the Eastern Zone final, and Italy and Czechoslovakia won the Europe Zones. In the Inter-Zonal Zone, the USA defeated Australia and Italy defeated Czechoslovakia. The USA defeated Italy in the final, which was held at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA, United States, on 14–16 December.

Americas Zone

North & Central America Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

•  Canada
•  Caribbean/West Indies
•  Colombia — advanced to Main Draw
•  Mexico — advanced to Main Draw
•  Venezuela

Main draw

Participating Teams

•  Colombia
•  Mexico
•  United States — advanced to Americas Inter-Zonal Final

South America Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

•  Argentina — advanced to Main Draw
•  Bolivia
•  Brazil — advanced to Main Draw
•  Ecuador
•  Peru
•  Uruguay

Main draw

Participating Teams

•  Argentina — advanced to Americas Inter-Zonal Final
•  Brazil
•  Chile

Americas Inter-Zonal Final

United States 4	Racquet Club of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States 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

• United States advance to Inter-Zonal Zone

Eastern Zone

Qualifying Rounds

Participating Teams

•  Chinese Taipei — advanced to Preliminary Rounds
•  Malaysia
•  Pakistan — advanced to Preliminary Rounds
•  South Korea

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

•  Chinese Taipei
•  Indonesia — advanced to Main Draw
•  Pakistan — advanced to Main Draw
•  Philippines

Main draw

Participating Teams

•  Australia
•  India
•  Indonesia
•  Japan
•  New Zealand
•  Pakistan

Final

New Zealand 2	Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand 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

• Australia advance to Inter-Zonal Zone

Europe Zone

Zone A

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

•  Austria — advanced to Main Draw
•  Denmark
•  Egypt
•  Finland
•  Greece
•  Italy — advanced to Main Draw
•  Monaco
•  Morocco
•  Poland — advanced to Main Draw
•  Portugal
•  Soviet Union
•  Spain — advanced to Main Draw

Main draw

Participating Teams

•  Austria
•  Great Britain
•  Hungary
•  Italy
•  Poland
•  Spain

Final

Italy 4	Foro Italico, Rome, Italy 14–16 September 1979 clay		Great Britain 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Adriano Panatta Christopher 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 Christopher Mottram 8 6 7 5

• Italy advance to Inter-Zonal Zone

Zone B

Qualifying Round

Participating Teams

•  Iran — advanced to Preliminary Rounds
•  Turkey

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

•  Belgium
•  France — advanced to Main Draw
•  Iran
•  Ireland
•  Israel
•  Netherlands
•  Nigeria
•  Norway
•  Romania — advanced to Main Draw
•  Switzerland — advanced to Main Draw
•  West Germany — advanced to Main Draw
•  Yugoslavia

Main draw

Participating Teams

•  Czechoslovakia
•  France
•  Romania
•  Sweden
•  Switzerland
•  West Germany

Final

Czechoslovakia 3	Prague, Czechoslovakia 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 Nils 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

• Czechoslovakia advance to Inter-Zonal Zone

Inter-Zonal Zone

Draw

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

First round

Australia vs. United States

Australia 1	White City Stadium, Sydney, Australia 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 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 5	San Francisco Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA, United States 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

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