The 1979 Nations Cup, also known by its sponsored name Ambre Solaire Nations Cup, was a men's team

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the third edition of the

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

and was part of the 1979 Grand Prix circuit. It took place at the Rochusclub in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

from 7 May through 14 May 1979. Total prize money was $250,000 and in total 44,500 people attended the event.

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 ...

were the defending champions but did not compete that year.

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

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 ...

in the final, which was delayed by one day due to rain, to win the title for the first time. The draw consisted of eight teams divided over two round-robin groups. The two best ranked teams from each group proceeded to the semifinals. Each match consisted of two singles and a doubles.

Players

Section A

; * Ricardo Cano *

José Luis Clerc José Luis Clerc (born 16 August 1958) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 3 August 1981, following a run of 25 consecutive mat ...

; * Mark Cox * John Lloyd *

Buster Mottram Christopher "Buster" Mottram (born 25 April 1955 in Kingston upon Thames) is an English former tennis player and UK number 1 who achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in February 1983. Mottram represented Great Britain in the D ...

; *

Corrado Barazzutti Corrado Barazzutti (born 19 February 1953, in Udine) is a former tennis player from Italy. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 7, achieved in August 1978. After his player career Barazzutti was non-playing captain of the Italy Davis C ...

Paolo Bertolucci Paolo Bertolucci (born 3 August 1951) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He is currently working as sport commentator for Italian Sky TV. Bertolucci won the Davis Cup with Italy in 1976. His greatest success on ATP Tour was the ...

Adriano Panatta Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. He won the French Open in 1976, and was the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, doing so on two occasions. He is also the only Italian man ...

; *

José Higueras José Higueras (; born 1 March 1953) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Spain. Between 1976 and 1984, Higueras won 16 top-level singles titles. A semi-finalist at the French Open in 1982 and 1983, he reached a career ...

Manuel Orantes Manuel Orantes Corral (; born 6 February 1949) is a former tennis player from Spain who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. He won the US Open men's singles title in 1975, beating defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final. Orantes reached a ...

Section B

; * John Alexander *

Phil Dent Philip Clive Dent (born 14 February 1950) is a former professional tennis player. Dent's high water mark as a pro singles player was reaching the Australian Open final in 1974, which he lost to Jimmy Connors in four sets. Dent was also the me ...

Kevin Warwick Kevin Warwick (born 9 February 1954) is an English engineer and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Coventry University. He is known for his studies on direct interfaces between computer systems and the human nervous system, and has also done ...

; *

Rolf Gehring Rolf Gehring (born 25 November 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 30 in November 1981. Gehring participated in 6 Davis Cup ties for West Germany West Germany is ...

* Uli Pinner *

Andreas Maurer Andreas Maurer may refer to: * Andreas Maurer (tennis) * Andreas Maurer (Austrian politician) Andreas Josef Maurer (7 September 1919 – 25 October 2010) was an Austrian politician (ÖVP) and farmers' advocate who served as governor of Lower A ...

Werner Zirngibl Werner Zirngibl (born 4 September 1956) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. Biography A right-handed player, Zirngibl won his first Grand Slam match at the January edition of the 1977 Australian Open, then had to retire during h ...

; *

Marcello Lara Marcelo Lara (born October 5, 1947 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a former professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) ...

Emilio Montano Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio Piazza Memorial School, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (dis ...

Raúl Ramírez Raúl Ramírez (born 20 June 1953) is a Mexican retired professional tennis player. He was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Ramírez was the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing th ...

; *

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...

Eddie Dibbs Eddie Dibbs (born February 23, 1951) is a retired American tennis player also nicknamed "Fast Eddie". He attained a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in July 1978, winning 22 titles and being a runner-up another 20 times. Dibbs holds t ...

Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. Smith is best known to non-tennis players as the namesake of a popular brand of tennis shoes. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles cham ...

Harold Solomon Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the cours ...

Players

Section A

Section B

Round robin

Section A

Standings

Italy vs. Spain

Argentina vs. Great Britain

Spain vs. Great Britain

Italy vs. Argentina

Italy vs. Great Britain

Argentina vs. Spain

Section B

Standings

Australia vs. Germany

USA vs. Mexico

Australia vs. USA

Germany vs. Mexico

USA vs. Germany

Australia vs. Mexico

Semifinal

Australia vs. Argentina

Italy vs. USA

Final

Australia vs. Italy

See also

External links

References