1997 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I

The Europe/Africa Zone was one of the three zones of the regional Davis Cup competition in 1997.

In the Europe/Africa Zone there were four different tiers, called groups, in which teams competed against each other to advance to the upper tier. Winners in Group I advanced to the World Group qualifying round, along with losing teams from the World Group first round. Teams who lost in the first round competed in the relegation play-offs, with winning teams remaining in Group I, whereas teams who lost their play-offs were relegated to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 1998.^[1]

Second Round Play-offs

First Round Play-offs

First Round

Second Round

Belgium

Brussels, Belgium (clay)

bye

bye

Belgium

3

Aalborg, Denmark (indoor carpet)

Hungary

Denmark

2

Denmark

5

Budapest, Hungary (clay)

Hungary

0

Hungary

2

Ukraine

3

Great Britain

Kyiv, Ukraine (clay)

London, England (indoor carpet)

bye

Great Britain

3

Great Britain

1

Harare, Zimbabwe (indoor hard)

Ukraine

2

Zimbabwe

4

Ukraine

0

Zimbabwe

5

Israel

Bratislava, Slovakia (clay)

bye

Israel

Israel

1

bye

Slovakia

3

bye

Slovakia

Israel

w/o

Osijek, Croatia (indoor carpet)

Morocco

Morocco

1

Graz, Austria (indoor clay)

Croatia

4

Morocco

Croatia

2

bye

Austria

3

bye

Austria

•  Hungary and  Morocco relegated to Group II in 1998.
•  Belgium,  Zimbabwe,  Slovakia, and  Austria advance to World Group qualifying round.

Denmark 5	Aalborg Stadium, Aalborg, Denmark[2] 7–9 February 1997 Carpet (indoors)		Hungary 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Frederik Fetterlein József Krocskó 6 4 6 2 7 5       2 Kenneth Carlsen Attila Sávolt 6 4 6 4 77 63       3 Kenneth Carlsen / Frederik Fetterlein László Markovits / Attila Sávolt 77 64 77 62 6 4       4 Kenneth Carlsen József Krocskó 6 3 65 77 6 3       5 Frederik Fetterlein Attila Sávolt 5 7 6 3 6 4

Zimbabwe 5	City Sports Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe[3] 7–9 February 1997 Hard (indoors)		Ukraine 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Wayne Black Andriy Medvedev 6 4 6 3 4 6 6 4     2 Byron Black Andrei Rybalko 5 7 6 2 77 62 6 3     3 Byron Black / Wayne Black Andriy Medvedev / Dimitri Poliakov 68 710 7 5 4 6 6 1 6 4   4 Byron Black Denis Yakimenko 6 4 6 4         5 Wayne Black Andrei Rybalko 77 63 6 3

Croatia 4	Zrinjevac Sport Hall, Osijek, Croatia[4] 7–9 February 1997 Carpet (indoors)		Morocco 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Saša Hiršzon Karim Alami 6 4 6 1 6 3       2 Goran Ivanišević Hicham Arazi 6 2 6 2 64 77 6 2     3 Saša Hiršzon / Goran Ivanišević Karim Alami / Hicham Arazi 6 2 6 3 6 3       4 Goran Ivanišević Karim Alami 6 2 7 5         5 Saša Hiršzon Hicham Arazi 1 6 4 6

Belgium 3	Royal Léopold Club, Brussels, Belgium[5] 4–6 April 1997 Clay		Denmark 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Filip Dewulf Kenneth Carlsen 6 4 6 0 6 1       2 Johan Van Herck Frederik Fetterlein 65 77 6 2 2 6 1 6     3 Filip Dewulf / Libor Pimek Kenneth Carlsen / Frederik Fetterlein 3 6 5 7 6 1 4 6     4 Johan Van Herck Kenneth Carlsen 6 4 6 1 7 5       5 Filip Dewulf Frederik Fetterlein 6 0 6 4 3 6 2 6 6 1

Great Britain 1	Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, England[6] 4–6 April 1997 Carpet (indoors)		Zimbabwe 4
1 2 3 4 5 1 Jamie Delgado Wayne Black 6 2 3 6 1 6 3 6     2 Andrew Richardson Byron Black 3 6 6 4 1 6 6 4 6 4   3 Neil Broad / Mark Petchey Byron Black / Wayne Black 6 3 1 6 4 6 78 66 3 6   4 Jamie Delgado Byron Black 0 6 0 6 2 6       5 Andrew Richardson Wayne Black 3 6 77 65 62 77

Slovakia 3	Slovan Kerametal Tennis Club, Bratislava, Slovakia[7] 4–6 April 1997 Clay		Israel 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Dominik Hrbatý Eyal Ran 6 3 4 6 6 3 6 4     2 Karol Kučera Noam Behr 6 1 6 3 6 0       3 Dominik Hrbatý / Karol Kučera Noam Behr / Eyal Erlich 4 6 6 3 3 6 64 77     4 Karol Kučera Eyal Ran 6 2 6 3 6 2       5 Dominik Hrbatý Noam Behr           not played

Austria 3	Liebenauer Stadium, Graz, Austria[8] 4–6 April 1997 Clay (indoors)		Croatia 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Gilbert Schaller Goran Ivanišević 6 3 6 4 63 77 2 6 3 1   retired 2 Thomas Muster Saša Hiršzon 6 0 6 4 3 6 6 1     3 Thomas Muster / Udo Plamberger Saša Hiršzon / Goran Ivanišević 5 7 2 6 2 6       4 Thomas Muster Goran Ivanišević 77 65 5 7 77 65 2 6 5 7   5 Gilbert Schaller Saša Hiršzon 6 3 6 3 7 5

Ukraine 2	Nauka Sports Club, Kyiv, Ukraine[9] 11–13 July 1997 Clay		Great Britain 3
1 2 3 4 5 1 Andrei Rybalko Tim Henman 6 3 4 6 3 6 6 4 4 6   2 Andriy Medvedev Greg Rusedski 6 1 6 1 2 6 6 2     3 Andriy Medvedev / Dimitri Poliakov Tim Henman / Greg Rusedski 1 6 4 6 65 77       4 Andriy Medvedev Tim Henman 65 77 6 3 6 4 6 4     5 Andrei Rybalko Greg Rusedski 5 7 3 6 3 6

Hungary 2	Római Tennis Academy, Budapest, Hungary[10] 19–21 September 1997 Clay		Ukraine 3
1 2 3 4 5 1 Kornél Bardóczky Andriy Medvedev 2 6 2 6 2 6       2 Attila Sávolt Andrei Rybalko 6 4 6 2 2 6 6 2     3 Gergely Kisgyörgy / Attila Sávolt Andriy Medvedev / Dimitri Poliakov 2 6 3 6 1 6       4 Attila Sávolt Andriy Medvedev 1 6 77 61 3 6 7 5 2 6   5 Kornél Bardóczky Andrei Rybalko 6 0 6 4

• Davis Cup official website