1981 Davis Cup

1981 edition of the Davis Cup January 2025 1981 Davis Cup 6 March – 13 December 1981 70th 51 USA 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.Bud Collins The Bud Collins History of Tennis 2010 New Chapter Press [New York] 978-0942257700 495–496, 499 2nd 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.ITF Events - Davis Cup https://www.itftennis.com/about/itf-events/davis-cup.aspx itftennis.com International Tennis Federation 12 November 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20191112195458/https://www.itftennis.com/about/itf-events/davis-cup.aspx 12 November 2019 liveDavis Cup History https://www.daviscup.com/en/organisation/davis-cup-history.aspx daviscup.com 12 November 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20191112195331/https://www.daviscup.com/en/organisation/davis-cup-history.aspx 12 November 2019 live 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.Collett Mike The new-look 1981 Davis Cup tennis competition gets under... https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/02/The-new-look-1981-Davis-Cup-tennis-competition-gets-under/2372352357200/ 12 November 2019 United Press International 2 March 1981 London World Group 1981 Davis Cup World Group Participating teamsARGAUSBRA 1968TCHFRAGBRITAJPN 1947MEXNZLROU 1965KOR 1949SWESUIUSAFRG Draw 6–8 March 9–12 July 2–4 October 11–13 December Munich, West Germany (indoor carpet) FRG 2 ARG 3 Timișoara, Romania (indoor hard) ROU 1965 3 BRA 1968 2 Brighton, United Kingdom (indoor carpet) GBR 3 ITA 2 Seoul, South Korea (clay) KOR 1949 0 NZL 5 Yokohama, Japan (indoor carpet) JPN 1947 0 SWE 5 Lyon, France (indoor carpet) FRA 2 AUS 3 Zürich, Switzerland (indoor hard) SUI 2 TCH 3 Carlsbad, CA, United States (hard) USA 3 MEX 2 Timișoara, Romania (hard) ARG 3 ROU 1965 2 Christchurch, New Zealand (carpet) GBR 4 NZL 1 Båstad, Sweden (clay) SWE 1 AUS 3 New York City, United States (hard) TCH 1 USA 4 Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay) ARG 5 GBR 0 Portland, OR, United States (indoor carpet) AUS 0 USA 5 Cincinnati, OH, United States (indoor carpet) ARG 1 USA 3 Final United States vs. Argentina United States Argentina Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, United Stateshttps://www.daviscup.com/en/draws-results/tie.aspx?id=M-DC-1981-WG-M-USA-ARG-01 United States v Argentina daviscup.com 11–13 December 1981 Carpet (indoors) 3 1 John McEnroe 6 6 6 Guillermo Vilas 3 2 2 Roscoe Tanner 5 3 6 José Luis Clerc 7 6 8 Peter Fleming John McEnroe 6 4 6 4 11 José Luis Clerc Guillermo Vilas 3 6 4 6 9 John McEnroe 7 5 6 3 6 José Luis Clerc 5 7 3 6 3 Roscoe Tanner 11 Guillermo Vilas 10 1 Relegation play-offs 1981 Davis Cup World Group#Relegation play-offs Date: 2–4 October Home team Score Visiting team Location Surface BRA 1968 2–3 FRG São Paulo Clay ITA 4–1 KOR 1949 Sanremo Clay FRA 4–1 JPN 1947 Paris Clay MEX 3–2 SUI Tijuana Clay FRA, ITA, MEX and FRG remain in the World Group in 1982. BRA 1968, JPN 1947, KOR 1949 and SUI are relegated to Zonal competition in 1982. Americas Zone 1981 Davis Cup Americas Zone 9–11 January 13–15 February 6–8 March Sub-Zonal Semifinals Sub-Zonal Finals Inter-Zonal Final Bogotá, Colombia (clay) COL 3 CAN 2 Caracas, Venezuela (hard) VEN 1930 4 Caribbean/West Indies 1 Lima, Peru (clay) PER 1 CHI 4 Guayaquil, Ecuador (clay) ECU 1900 2 URU 3 Bogotá, Colombia (clay) COL 5 VEN 1930 0 Santiago, Chile (clay) CHI 5 URU 0 Bogotá, Colombia (indoor clay) COL 2 CHI 3 CHI are promoted to the World Group in 1982. Eastern Zone 1981 Davis Cup Eastern Zone 9–11 January 13–15 February 6–8 March IND bye Bangkok, Thailand (hard) MAS 0 THA 5 Taipei, Taiwan (indoor hard) INA 4 TPE 1 bye PAK Bangkok, Thailand (hard) IND 5 THA 0 Jakarta, Indonesia (clay) INA 3 PAK 0 Jakarta, Indonesia (clay) IND 3 INA 2 IND are promoted to the World Group in 1982. Europe Zone 1981 Davis Cup Europe Zone Zone A 8–10 May 10–14 June 9–11 July 25–27 September ESP 1977 bye ZIM ALG w/o POL bye Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay) MAR 1 MON 3 HUN bye Cairo, Egypt (clay) EGY 1972 5 GRE 0 YUG bye bye ISR Algiers, Algeria (clay) ESP 1977 5 ALG 0 Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay) POL 2 MON 3 Cairo, Egypt (clay) HUN 4 EGY 1972 1 Skopje, Yugoslavia (clay) YUG 1 ISR 4 Lleida, Spain (clay) ESP 1977 5 MON 0 Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) HUN 3 ISR 2 Avilés, Spain (clay) ESP 1977 3 HUN 2 ESP 1977 are promoted to the World Group in 1982. Zone B 8–10 May 12–14 June 9–11 July 25–27 September AUT bye Aarhus, Denmark (clay) DEN 5 POR 0 URS bye BEL w/o TUR FIN bye Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg (clay) LUX 0 BUL 1971 5 NED bye Oslo, Norway (clay) NOR 2 IRL 3 Salzburg, Austria (clay) AUT 3 DEN 2 Jūrmala, Soviet Union (clay) URS 4 BEL 1 Helsinki, Finland (clay) FIN 3 BUL 1971 2 Eindhoven, Netherlands (clay) NED 4 IRL 1 Pörtschach, Austria (clay) AUT 0 URS 4 Helsinki, Finland (clay) FIN 0 NED 5 Jūrmala, Soviet Union (clay) URS 5 NED 0 URS are promoted to the World Group in 1982. References General https://www.daviscup.com/en/draws-results/historic-format/world-group.aspx#/1981 World Group 1981 DavisCup.com 11 June 2020 Specific External links Davis Cup Official Website https://web.archive.org/web/20101018182625/http://www.daviscup.com/ October 18, 2010 Category:Davis Cups by year Davis Cup Davis Cup