1978 Davis Cup

Details
Duration	27 August 1977 – 10 December 1978
Edition	67th
Teams	50
Champion
Winning nation	United States
←1977 1979 →

The1978 Davis Cup was the 67th edition of theDavis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 50 teams entered the competition, 29 in the Europe Zone, 10 in the Americas Zone, and 11 in the Eastern Zone.

TheUnited States defeatedChile in the Americas Inter-Zonal final,Australia defeatedNew Zealand in the Eastern Zone final, andGreat Britain andSweden were the winners of the two Europe Zones, defeatingCzechoslovakia andHungary respectively.

In the Inter-Zonal Zone, the United States defeated Sweden and Great Britain defeated Australia in the semifinals. The United States then defeated Great Britain in the final to win their 25th title overall and their first since1972. The final was held at theMission Hills Country Club inRancho Mirage, California, United States on 8–10 December.^[1][2]

The competition was significantly marked by political issues:Canada,Mexico,Venezuela, and theCaribbean/West Indies all withdrew from the North & Central America Zone due to the continued presence ofSouth Africa in the competition, despite continued international condemnation of their government'sapartheid policies.^[3]

The North & Central America Zone final between the United States and South Africa, held atVanderbilt University,Nashville, Tennessee, attracted crowds of up to 5,000 protesters each day, and efforts by the South African side to appease critics by nominatingPeter Lamb as its first "coloured" player were derided by some astokenism, given he did not actually play during the tie and was a student enrolled at Vanderbilt University at the time of the tournament.^[4][5][6]

TheSoviet Union continued to be barred for competing following its refusal to compete against Chile in the1976 semifinals and its promised refusal to compete against South Africa.

	Semifinals					Final
	United States
						Nashville, TN, United States (indoor carpet)
	bye
						United States		4
	Johannesburg, South Africa
						South Africa		1
	South Africa		4
	Colombia		1

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Chile
						Santiago, Chile
	bye
						Chile		5
	Lima, Peru
						Bolivia		0
	Peru		0
	Bolivia		5
	Montevideo, Uruguay (clay)
	Uruguay		3
						Montevideo, Uruguay
	Ecuador		2
						Uruguay		4
						Brazil		1
	bye
	Brazil

	Semifinals 18–20 December 1977					Final 17–19 March
	Santiago, Chile
	Chile		5
						Santiago, Chile (clay)
	Uruguay		0
						Chile		3
						Argentina		2
	bye
	Argentina

Chile vs. United States

Chile 2	Estadio Nacional,Santiago, Chile[7] 15–17 September 1978 Clay[8]		United States 3
1 2 3 4 5 1 Jaime Fillol Brian Gottfried 4 6 5 7 2 6       2 Hans Gildemeister Harold Solomon 5 7 6 3 3 6 1 6     3 Jaime Fillol / Belus Prajoux Brian Gottfried / John McEnroe 6 3 3 6 6 8 3 6     4 Jaime Fillol Harold Solomon 6 3 6 2         5 Hans Gildemeister Brian Gottfried 4 6 7 5 12 10

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Manila, Philippines
	Philippines		5
						Manila, Philippines
	Thailand		0
						Philippines		1
	Tokyo, Japan
						Japan		4
	Japan		5
	Chinese Taipei		0
	Rawalpindi, Pakistan
	Pakistan		4
						Seoul, South Korea
	Malaysia		0
						Pakistan		2
						South Korea		3
	bye
	South Korea

Quarterfinals 9–12 December 1977

Semifinals 19–22 January

Final 24–26 February

Australia

Tokyo, Japan (clay)

bye

Australia

5

Tokyo, Japan

Japan

0

Indonesia

1

Adelaide, Australia (grass)

Japan

4

Australia

4

Coimbatore, India

New Zealand

0

South Korea

1

New Delhi, India

India

4

India

1

New Zealand

4

bye

New Zealand

Australia vs. New Zealand

Australia 4	Memorial Drive,Adelaide, Australia[9] 24–26 February 1978 Grass		New Zealand 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Tony Roche Chris Lewis 13 11 6 3 6 2       2 John Alexander Brian Fairlie 6 4 6 4 6 4       3 John Alexander / Tony Roche Brian Fairlie / Chris Lewis 6 3 6 4 12 14 4 6 6 1   4 John Alexander Chris Lewis 8 10 16 14 6 1 9 7     5 Allan Stone Brian Fairlie 2 6 6 1       not completed

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Monte Carlo, Monaco
	Monaco		5
						Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay)
	Luxembourg		0
						Monaco		0
						Great Britain		5
	bye
	Great Britain
	Tel Aviv, Israel (hard)
	Israel		5
						Tel Aviv, Israel (hard)
	Finland		0
						Israel		2
						Austria		3
	bye
	Austria
	Czechoslovakia
						Prague,Czechoslovakia (indoor clay)
	bye
						Czechoslovakia		3
	Zeist, Netherlands (clay)
						Netherlands		1
	Netherlands		4
	Greece		1
	Poland
						Warsaw, Poland
	bye
						Poland		4
	Algiers, Algeria (clay)
						Iran		1
	Algeria		1
	Iran		4

Quarterfinals 16–18 June

Semifinals 13–15 July

Final 15–17 September

France

Paris, France (clay)

bye

France

2

Bristol, United Kingdom (grass)

Great Britain

3

Great Britain

5

Eastbourne, United Kingdom (grass)

Austria

0

Great Britain

5

Prague,Czechoslovakia (clay)

Czechoslovakia

0

Czechoslovakia

3

Prague,Czechoslovakia (clay)

Poland

2

Czechoslovakia

5

Romania

0

bye

Romania

Great Britain vs. Czechoslovakia

Great Britain 5	Devonshire Park,Eastbourne, United Kingdom[10] 15–17 September 1978 Grass		Czechoslovakia 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 John Lloyd Jiří Hřebec 9 7 6 3 4 6 5 7 12 10   2 Buster Mottram Ivan Lendl 6 4 7 5 7 5       3 Mark Cox / David Lloyd Jan Kodeš / Tomáš Šmíd 6 4 13 15 6 4 2 6 6 4   4 Mark Cox Ivan Lendl 6 2 6 4 6 3       5 Buster Mottram Jiří Hřebec 5 7 3 6 6 3 6 4 6 0

	Pre-qualifying round
	Casablanca, Morocco
	Morocco		5
	Turkey		0

	First Round					Qualifying Round
	Casablanca, Morocco (clay)
	Morocco		4
						Casablanca, Morocco
	Norway		1
						Morocco		0
						Yugoslavia		5
	bye
	Yugoslavia
	Dublin,Ireland (grass)
	Ireland		4
						Dublin,Ireland (indoor hard)
	Portugal		1
						Ireland		0
						Sweden		5
	bye
	Sweden
	Hungary
						Pécs, Hungary
	bye
						Hungary		4
	Brussels, Belgium (clay)
						Belgium		1
	Belgium		3
	Denmark		2
	Lucerne, Switzerland
	Switzerland		5
						Zürich, Switzerland
	Egypt		0
						Switzerland		0
						West Germany		5
	bye
	West Germany

Quarterfinals 13–18 June

Semifinals 13–16 July

Final 15–17 September

Spain

Båstad, Sweden (clay)

bye

Spain

2

Belgrade,Yugoslavia (clay)

Sweden

3

Yugoslavia

2

Båstad, Sweden (clay)

Sweden

3

Sweden

3

Budapest, Hungary

Hungary

1

Hungary

3

Budapest, Hungary

West Germany

2

Hungary

4

Italy

1

bye

Italy

Sweden vs. Hungary

Sweden 3	Båstad Tennis Stadium,Båstad, Sweden[11] 15–17 September 1978 Clay		Hungary 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Kjell Johansson Balázs Taróczy 7 5 6 2 6 4       2 Björn Borg Péter Szőke 6 2 6 0 6 0       3 Ove Bengtson / Tenny Svensson Péter Szőke / Balázs Taróczy 2 6 1 6 10 12       4 Kjell Johansson Péter Szőke 3 6 7 5 6 1 3 6 6 1   5 Tenny Svensson Balázs Taróczy 2 6 6 4 5 5     not completed

	Semifinals 6–8 October					Final 8–10 December
	Gothenburg, Sweden (indoor carpet)
	EUR-B	Sweden	2
						Rancho Mirage, CA, United States (hard)
	AME	United States	3
						AME	United States	4
	London, United Kingdom (indoor carpet)
						EUR-A	Great Britain	1
	EAS	Australia	2
	EUR-A	Great Britain	3

Sweden vs. United States

Sweden 2	Scandinavium,Gothenburg, Sweden[12] 6–8 October 1978 Carpet (indoors)		United States 3
1 2 3 4 5 1 Björn Borg Arthur Ashe 6 4 7 5 6 3       2 Kjell Johansson Vitas Gerulaitis 2 6 1 6 4 6       3 Ove Bengtson / Björn Borg Bob Lutz / Stan Smith 6 2 3 6 6 3 5 7 3 6   4 Kjell Johansson Arthur Ashe 2 6 0 6 5 7       5 Björn Borg Vitas Gerulaitis 6 3 6 1

Great Britain vs. Australia

Great Britain 3	National Sports Centre,London, United Kingdom[13] 6–8 October 1978 Carpet (indoors)		Australia 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Buster Mottram Tony Roche 8 6 3 6 7 5 6 4     2 John Lloyd John Alexander 7 5 6 2 6 2       3 Mark Cox / David Lloyd Ross Case / Geoff Masters 8 6 3 6 6 4 6 3     4 John Lloyd Tony Roche 3 6 3 6 2 6       5 Buster Mottram John Alexander 2 6 3 6 2 6

United States vs. Great Britain

United States 4	Mission Hills Country Club,Rancho Mirage, CA, United States[2] 8–10 December 1978 Hard		Great Britain 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 John McEnroe John Lloyd 6 1 6 2 6 2       2 Brian Gottfried Buster Mottram 6 4 6 2 8 10 4 6 3 6   3 Bob Lutz / Stan Smith Mark Cox / David Lloyd 6 2 6 2 6 3       4 John McEnroe Buster Mottram 6 2 6 2 6 1       5 Brian Gottfried John Lloyd 6 1 6 2 6 4

• Davis Cup Official Website

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