The 1977 Davis Cup was the 66th edition of the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 59 teams would enter the competition, 33 in the Europe Zone, 14 in the Americas Zone, and 12 in the Eastern Zone.

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made its first appearance in the tournament.

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

defeated the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the Americas Zone final,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

defeated

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the Eastern Zone final, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

were the winners of the two Europe Zones, defeating

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

respectively. In the Inter-Zonal Zone, Australia defeated Argentina and Italy defeated France in the semifinals. Australia then defeated the defending champions Italy in the final to win their 24th title overall and their first since

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

. The final was held at the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 2–4 December.

Politics in the Davis Cup

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the Davis Cup had been affected by a number of protests and defaults by teams showing their opposition to the apartheid policies and

white minority rule In political science, minoritarianism (or minorityism) is a neologism for a political structure or process in which a minority segment of a population has a certain degree of primacy in that entity's decision making. Minoritarianism may be contr ...

in South Africa and Rhodesia, and the

human rights violations Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

which occurred in Chile under

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

. Several high-profile incidents included Mexico's refusal to play South Africa in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and 1976 Americas Zones, widespread protests in Sweden against the Pinochet junta during the 1975 Inter-Zonal semifinal between Sweden and Chile, and South Africa being awarded the Cup by default in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

after India refused to travel to South Africa for the final. This show of political will in a sporting context was not welcomed by some, and for a brief time the

, the inaugural winner of the cup, announced their decision to withdraw from the competition due to the apparent lenience of the tournament's organisers to prevent defaults by teams. In a show of solidarity,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

also announced their intention to withdraw. In response to these withdrawals, the Davis Cup committee made a greater commitment to keep politics out of the competition. The committee subsequently disqualified the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

as punishment for refusing to play Chile in the 1976 Inter-Zonal semifinals - the Soviets had already been barred from competing in the

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

for refusing to play against South Africa and Rhodesia - from the tournament. The Soviet Union would have their entry rejected in 1978 after informing officials they would refuse to compete against South Africa. Proposals were also brought forward to bring in an automatic one-year ban for any nation which pulled out of the tournament after the draw had been made, in an effort to prevent teams from defaulting on political grounds: The United States, Great Britain and France all returned and competed in the 1977 tournament.

Politics in the Davis Cup

Americas Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Eastern Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Europe Zone

Zone A

Pre-Qualifying Rounds

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Zone B

Pre-Qualifying Rounds

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Inter-Zonal Zone

Draw

Semifinals

Final

References

External links