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.

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

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

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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

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Participating teams
 
Argentina
 
Australia
 
Brazil
 
Czechoslovakia
 
France
 
Great Britain
 
Italy
 
Japan
 
Mexico
 
New Zealand
 
Romania
 
South Korea
 
Sweden
 
Switzerland
 
United States
 
West Germany

Draw

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First round
6–8 March
Quarterfinals
9–12 July
Semifinals
2–4 October
Final
11–13 December
Munich, West Germany (indoor carpet)
  West Germany2
Timișoara, Romania (hard)
  Argentina3
  Argentina3
Timișoara, Romania (indoor hard)
  Romania2
  Romania3
Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay)
  Brazil2
  Argentina5
Brighton, United Kingdom (indoor carpet)
  Great Britain0
  Great Britain3
Christchurch, New Zealand (carpet)
  Italy2
  Great Britain4
Seoul, South Korea (clay)
  New Zealand1
  South Korea0
Cincinnati, OH, United States (indoor carpet)
  New Zealand5
  Argentina1
Yokohama, Japan (indoor carpet)
  United States3
  Japan0
Båstad, Sweden (clay)
  Sweden5
  Sweden1
Lyon, France (indoor carpet)
  Australia3
  France2
Portland, OR, United States (indoor carpet)
  Australia3
  Australia0
Zürich, Switzerland (indoor hard)
  United States5
   Switzerland2
New York City, United States (hard)
  Czechoslovakia3
  Czechoslovakia1
Carlsbad, CA, United States (hard)
  United States4
  United States3
  Mexico2

Final

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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

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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

Americas Zone

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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

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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

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Zone A

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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

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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

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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. ^ a b "United States v Argentina". daviscup.com.
  3. ^ a b "ITF Events - Davis Cup". itftennis.com. International Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b "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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