1978 Davis Cup

1978 Davis Cup
Details
Edition 67th
Achievements (singles)
1977
1979

The 1978 Davis Cup was the 67th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 48 teams would enter the competition, 29 in the Europe Zone, 11 in the Eastern Zone, and 8 in the Americas Zone.

The United States defeated Chile in the Americas Zone final, Australia defeated New Zealand in the Eastern Zone final, and Great Britain and Sweden won the Europe Zones. In the Inter-Zonal Zone, Great Britain defeated Australia and the USA defeated Sweden. The USA defeated Great Britain in the final, which was held at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, United States, on 8–10 December.

The competition was significantly affected by political issues. Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and the Caribbean/West Indies withdrew in protest over South Africa's participation,[1] and the Soviet Union was barred for the second consecutive year, for its refusal to contest matches against Chile and its promised refusal to compete against either South Africa or Rhodesia.

The South Africa / United States tie, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, attracted crowds of up to 5000 protesters each day.[2] In an effort to appease its critics, South Africa named Peter Lamb as one of the six members of its team, as its first-ever "coloured" player.[3] However, Lamb did not play, and his inclusion in the squad was derided as tokenism.

After a decade of dispute, South Africa would be excluded from the 1979 competition, and would not be allowed to compete again until 1992.

Americas Zone

North & Central America Zone

Main draw

Participating Teams

South America Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

Main draw

Participating Teams

Americas Inter-Zonal Final


Chile
2
Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile
15–17 September 1978

United States
3
1 2 3 4 5
1 Chile
United States
Jaime Fillol
Brian Gottfried
4
6
5
7
2
6
     
2 Chile
United States
Hans Gildemeister
Harold Solomon
5
7
6
3
3
6
1
6
   
3 Chile
United States
Jaime Fillol / Belus Prajoux
Brian Gottfried / John McEnroe
6
3
3
6
6
8
3
6
   
4 Chile
United States
Jaime Fillol
Harold Solomon
6
3
6
2
       
5 Chile
United States
Hans Gildemeister
Brian Gottfried
4
6
7
5
12
10
     

Eastern Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

Main draw

Participating Teams

Final


Australia
4
Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, Adelaide, Australia
24–26 February 1978
grass

New Zealand
0
1 2 3 4 5
1 Australia
New Zealand
Tony Roche
Chris Lewis
13
11
6
3
6
2
     
2 Australia
New Zealand
John Alexander
Brian Fairlie
6
4
6
4
6
4
     
3 Australia
New Zealand
John Alexander / Tony Roche
Brian Fairlie / Chris Lewis
6
3
6
4
12
14
4
6
6
1
 
4 Australia
New Zealand
John Alexander
Chris Lewis
8
10
16
14
6
1
9
7
   
5 Australia
New Zealand
Allan Stone
Brian Fairlie
2
6
6
1
      not
completed

Europe Zone

Zone A

Qualifying Rounds

Participating Teams

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

Main draw

Participating Teams

Final


Sweden
3
Båstad Tennis Stadium, Båstad, Sweden
15–17 September 1978
clay

Hungary
1
1 2 3 4 5
1 Sweden
Hungary
Kjell Johansson
Balázs Taróczy
7
5
6
2
6
4
     
2 Sweden
Hungary
Björn Borg
Péter Szőke
6
2
6
0
6
0
     
3 Sweden
Hungary
Ove Nils Bengtson / Tenny Svensson
Péter Szőke / Balázs Taróczy
2
6
1
6
10
12
     
4 Sweden
Hungary
Kjell Johansson
Péter Szőke
3
6
7
5
6
1
3
6
6
1
 
5 Sweden
Hungary
Tenny Svensson
Balázs Taróczy
2
6
6
4
5
5
    not
completed

Zone B

Preliminary Rounds

Participating Teams

Main draw

Participating Teams

Final


Great Britain
5
Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, England
15–17 September 1978
grass

Czechoslovakia
0
1 2 3 4 5
1 United Kingdom
Czechoslovakia
John Lloyd
Jiří Hřebec
9
7
6
3
4
6
5
7
12
10
 
2 United Kingdom
Czechoslovakia
Christopher Mottram
Ivan Lendl
6
4
7
5
7
5
     
3 United Kingdom
Czechoslovakia
Mark Cox / David Lloyd
Jan Kodeš / Tomáš Šmíd
6
4
13
15
6
4
2
6
6
4
 
4 United Kingdom
Czechoslovakia
Mark Cox
Ivan Lendl
6
2
6
4
6
3
     
5 United Kingdom
Czechoslovakia
Christopher Mottram
Jiří Hřebec
5
7
3
6
6
3
6
4
6
0
 

Inter-Zonal Zone

Draw

  1st round
6–8 October
Final
8–10 December
                 
  Gothenburg, Sweden (indoor carpet)
    Sweden 2  
    United States 3     Rancho Mirage, California, United States (hard)
      United States 4
London, England (indoor carpet)     Great Britain 1
    Great Britain 3
    Australia 2  

First round

Sweden vs. United States


Sweden
2
Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
6–8 October 1978
carpet (indoors)

United States
3
1 2 3 4 5
1 Sweden
United States
Björn Borg
Arthur Ashe
6
4
7
5
6
3
     
2 Sweden
United States
Kjell Johansson
Vitas Gerulaitis
2
6
1
6
4
6
     
3 Sweden
United States
Ove Nils Bengtson / Björn Borg
Bob Lutz / Stan Smith
6
2
3
6
6
3
5
7
3
6
 
4 Sweden
United States
Kjell Johansson
Arthur Ashe
2
6
0
6
5
7
     
5 Sweden
United States
Björn Borg
Vitas Gerulaitis
6
3
6
1
       

Great Britain vs. Australia


Great Britain
3
National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, London, England
6–8 October 1978
carpet (indoors)

Australia
2
1 2 3 4 5
1 United Kingdom
Australia
Christopher Mottram
Tony Roche
8
6
3
6
7
5
6
4
   
2 United Kingdom
Australia
John Lloyd
John Alexander
7
5
6
2
6
2
     
3 United Kingdom
Australia
Mark Cox / David Lloyd
Ross Case / Geoff Masters
8
6
3
6
6
4
6
3
   
4 United Kingdom
Australia
John Lloyd
Tony Roche
3
6
3
6
2
6
     
5 United Kingdom
Australia
Christopher Mottram
John Alexander
2
6
3
6
2
6
     

Final


United States
4
Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, California, United States
8–10 December 1978
hard

Great Britain
1
1 2 3 4 5
1 United States
United Kingdom
John McEnroe
John Lloyd
6
1
6
2
6
2
     
2 United States
United Kingdom
Brian Gottfried
Christopher Mottram
6
4
6
2
8
10
4
6
3
6
 
3 United States
United Kingdom
Bob Lutz / Stan Smith
Mark Cox / David Lloyd
6
2
6
2
6
3
     
4 United States
United Kingdom
John McEnroe
Christopher Mottram
6
2
6
2
6
1
     
5 United States
United Kingdom
Brian Gottfried
John Lloyd
6
1
6
2
6
4
     

References

  1. "African Activist Archive". Africanactivist.msu.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  2. Jim Jerome (1978-03-20). "Apartheid Critics Say He's Merely a Token, but Peter Lamb's Davis Cup Runneth Over". People.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
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