1997 Fed Cup World Group

The World Group is the highest level of Fed Cup competition in 1997. Eight nations competed in a three-round knockout competition. United States was the defending champion, but they were defeated in the first round by the Netherlands. France ended up capturing their first title, defeating the Netherlands in the final.

Participating Teams

Participating Teams
Belgium	Czech Republic	France	Germany
Japan	Netherlands	Spain	United States

Draw

	1st Round 1–2 March					Semifinals 12–13 July					Final 4–5 October
	Haarlem, Netherlands (Indoor carpet)
	1	United States	2
		Netherlands	3			Prague, Czech Republic (Outdoor clay)
							Netherlands	3
Mannheim, Germany (Indoor hard)							Czech Republic	2
		Czech Republic	3
	3	Germany	2								's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (Indoor carpet)
												Netherlands	1
	Tokyo, Japan (Indoor hard)										4	France	4
	4	France	4
		Japan	1			Nice, France (Outdoor clay)
						4	France	3
Sprimont, Belgium (Indoor hard)							Belgium	2
		Belgium	5
	2	Spain	0

First Round

United States vs. Netherlands

United States 2	Haarlem Sports Centre, Haarlem, Netherlands 1–2 March 1997 Supreme carpet (indoors)		Netherlands 3
1 2 3 1 Mary Joe Fernández Miriam Oremans 1 6 4 6     2 Chanda Rubin Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 4 6 6 4 6 3   3 Mary Joe Fernández Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 6 1 4 6 7 9   4 Chanda Rubin Miriam Oremans 3 6 0 6     5 Gigi Fernández / Kimberly Po Manon Bollegraf / Kristie Boogert 6 3 6 2

^[1]

Czech Republic vs. Germany

Czech Republic 3	May Market Hall, Mannheim, Germany 1–2 March 1997 DecoTurf (indoors)		Germany 2
1 2 3 1 Ludmila Richterová Marlene Weingärtner 6 3 5 7 3 6   2 Adriana Gerši Barbara Rittner 6 4 6 2     3 Ludmila Richterová Barbara Rittner 6 1 6 4     4 Adriana Gerši Marlene Weingärtner 6 2 6 2     5 Eva Martincová / Ludmila Richterová Barbara Rittner / Elena Wagner 63 77 2 6

^[2]

France vs. Japan

France 4	Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan 1–2 March 1997 DecoTurf (indoors)		Japan 1
1 2 3 1 Mary Pierce Naoko Sawamatsu 6 0 77 64     2 Nathalie Tauziat Ai Sugiyama 4 6 7 5 6 4   3 Mary Pierce Ai Sugiyama 5 7 79 67 4 6   4 Nathalie Tauziat Naoko Sawamatsu 7 5 4 6 17 15   5 Alexandra Fusai / Anne-Gaëlle Sidot Naoko Kijimuta / Kyoko Nagatsuka 7 5 6 4

• This tie holds the Fed Cup record for the most games, with 172.^[3]

^[4]

Belgium vs. Spain

Belgium 5	Tennissimo, Sprimont, Belgium 1–2 March 1997 Greenset (indoors)		Spain 0
1 2 3 1 Els Callens Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6 3 77 64     2 Sabine Appelmans Magüi Serna 6 1 4 6 6 3   3 Sabine Appelmans Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6 3 2 6 8 6   4 Els Callens Magüi Serna 6 1 6 3     5 Els Callens / Nancy Feber Gala León García / Virginia Ruano Pascual 5 7 6 2 6 2

^[5]

Semifinals

Czech Republic vs. Netherlands

Czech Republic 2	I. Czech Lawn Tennis Club, Prague, Czech Republic 12–13 July 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Netherlands 3
1 2 3 1 Sandra Kleinová Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 1 6 65 77     2 Jana Novotná Miriam Oremans 6 3 6 0     3 Jana Novotná Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 77 63 6 3     4 Adriana Gerši Miriam Oremans 6 1 2 6 7 9   5 Eva Martincová / Jana Novotná Manon Bollegraf / Miriam Oremans 4 6 65 77

^[6]

France vs. Belgium

France 3	Nice Lawn Tennis Club, Nice, France 12–13 July 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Belgium 2
1 2 3 1 Alexandra Fusai Sabine Appelmans 61 77 6 3 6 1   2 Sandrine Testud Dominique Van Roost 6 4 5 7 4 6   3 Sandrine Testud Sabine Appelmans 6 2 6 4     4 Alexandra Fusai Dominique Van Roost 3 6 3 6     5 Alexandra Fusai / Nathalie Tauziat Els Callens / Dominique Van Roost 3 6 6 2 7 5

^[7]

Final

Netherlands vs. France

Netherlands 1	Brabant Hall, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 4–5 October 1997 Supreme carpet (indoors)		France 4
1 2 3 1 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Sandrine Testud 4 6 6 4 3 6   2 Miriam Oremans Mary Pierce 4 6 1 6     3 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Mary Pierce 4 6 6 3 6 4   4 Miriam Oremans Sandrine Testud 6 0 3 6 3 6   5 Manon Bollegraf / Caroline Vis Alexandra Fusai / Nathalie Tauziat 3 6 4 6

^[8]

1997 Fed Cup Champions
France First title

References

See also

• Fed Cup structure