1981 Davis Cup
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 6 March – 13 December 1981 |
| Edition | 70th |
| Teams | 51 |
| Champion | |
| Winning nation |  United States |
← 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.[1][2]
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
| Participating teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina |
 Australia |
 Brazil |
 Czechoslovakia |
 France |
 Great Britain |
 Italy |
 Japan |
 Mexico |
 New Zealand |
 Romania |
 South Korea |
 Sweden |
 Switzerland |
United States |
 West Germany |
Draw
| First round 6–8 March | Quarterfinals 9–12 July | Semifinals 2–4 October | Final 11–13 December | |||||||||||||||
| Munich, West Germany (indoor carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Germany | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Timișoara, Romania (hard) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Argentina | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Argentina | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Timișoara, Romania (indoor hard) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brazil | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Argentina | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| Brighton, United Kingdom (indoor carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Great Britain | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Great Britain | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Christchurch, New Zealand (carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Italy | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Great Britain | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Seoul, South Korea (clay) | ||||||||||||||||||
| New Zealand | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| South Korea | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati, OH, United States (indoor carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| New Zealand | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| Argentina | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Yokohama, Japan (indoor carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Japan | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Båstad, Sweden (clay) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Lyon, France (indoor carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Australia | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| France | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Portland, OR, United States (indoor carpet) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Australia | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Australia | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Zürich, Switzerland (indoor hard) | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
 Switzerland | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| New York City, United States (hard) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Carlsbad, CA, United States (hard) | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| United States | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mexico | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Final
United States vs. Argentina
 United States 3 |
Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, United States[2] 11–13 December 1981 Carpet (indoors) |
 Argentina 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relegation play-offs
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 |
France, 
Italy, 
Mexico and 
West Germany remain in the World Group in 1982.
Brazil, 
Japan, 
South Korea and 
Switzerland are relegated to Zonal competition in 1982.
Americas Zone
| Sub-Zonal Semifinals 9–11 January | Sub-Zonal Finals 13–15 February | Inter-Zonal Final 6–8 March | |||||||||||
| Bogotá, Colombia (clay) | |||||||||||||
 Colombia | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Bogotá, Colombia (clay) | |||||||||||||
 Canada | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Colombia | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Caracas, Venezuela (hard) | |||||||||||||
 Venezuela | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Venezuela | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Bogotá, Colombia (indoor clay) | |||||||||||||
 Caribbean/West Indies | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Colombia | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Lima, Peru (clay) | |||||||||||||
 Chile | 3 | ||||||||||||
 Peru | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Santiago, Chile (clay) | |||||||||||||
| Chile | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Chile | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Guayaquil, Ecuador (clay) | |||||||||||||
 Uruguay | 0 | ||||||||||||
 Ecuador | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Uruguay | 3 | ||||||||||||
Eastern Zone
| Quarterfinals 9–11 January | Semifinals 13–15 February | Final 6–8 March | |||||||||||
 India | |||||||||||||
| Bangkok, Thailand (hard) | |||||||||||||
| bye | |||||||||||||
| India | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Bangkok, Thailand (hard) | |||||||||||||
 Thailand | 0 | ||||||||||||
 Malaysia | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Jakarta, Indonesia (clay) | |||||||||||||
| Thailand | 5 | ||||||||||||
| India | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Taipei, Taiwan (indoor hard) | |||||||||||||
 Indonesia | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Indonesia | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Jakarta, Indonesia (clay) | |||||||||||||
 Chinese Taipei | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Indonesia | 3 | ||||||||||||
 Pakistan | 0 | ||||||||||||
| bye | |||||||||||||
| Pakistan | |||||||||||||
