1973 Davis Cup

Details
Duration	10 November 1972 – 2 December 1973
Edition	62nd
Teams	53
Champion
Winning nation	Australia
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The 1973 Davis Cup was the 62nd edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. Fifty-three teams entered the competition, 31 in the Europe Zone, 12 in the Americas Zone, and 10 in the Eastern Zone.

For the first time, preliminary rounds were used in every zone, effectively giving byes through the first two rounds of competition to the previous year's finalists from the American and Eastern zones, and to the previous year's semifinalists from the European zones. This year's competition also marked the first time that professional tennis players were allowed to compete.^[1]

The United States defeated Chile in the Americas Inter-Zonal final, Australia defeated India in the Eastern Zone final, and Czechoslovakia and Romania were the winners of the two Europe Zones, defeating the Soviet Union and Italy respectively.

In the Inter-Zonal Zone, Australia defeated Czechoslovakia and the United States defeated Romania in the semifinals. Australia then defeated the United States in the final, breaking the defending champions' five-year winning run. The final was held at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, United States on 30 November-2 December. It marked the first time that the final was held indoors.^[1][2][3]

United States vs. Chile

United States 4	Burns Park Tennis Club, North Little Rock, Arkansas, United States[4] 3–5 August 1973 Hard		Chile 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Tom Gorman Jaime Fillol 17 15 6 4 4 6 6 3     2 Stan Smith Patricio Cornejo 7 9 6 2 8 6 6 4     3 Stan Smith / Erik van Dillen Patricio Cornejo / Jaime Fillol 7 9 37 39 8 6 6 1 6 3   4 Tom Gorman Patricio Cornejo 6 3 6 1 6 1       5 Stan Smith Jaime Fillol           not played

The doubles match between Smith/van Dillen and Cornejo/Fillol set the Davis Cup record for the most games in a doubles rubber (122). The second set, which went to 37-39, set the record for the most games played in a set (76).^[5]

India vs. Australia

India 0	Madras, India[6] 4–6 May 1973		Australia 4
1 2 3 4 5 1 Anand Amritraj John Newcombe 2 6 1 6 0 6       2 Vijay Amritraj Mal Anderson 1 6 2 6 1 6       3 Vijay Amritraj / Premjit Lall Geoff Masters / John Newcombe 6 4 2 6 5 7 3 6     4 Premjit Lall John Cooper 6 4 0 6 6 8 1 6     5 Vijay Amritraj John Newcombe 10 12 6 3       not completed

Romania vs. Soviet Union

Romania 3	Bucharest, Romania[7] 3–5 August 1973 Clay		Soviet Union 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Toma Ovici Alex Metreveli 5 7 5 7 2 6       2 Ilie Năstase Teimuraz Kakulia 6 0 6 3 6 0       3 Ilie Năstase / Ionel Sânteiu Sergei Likhachev / Alex Metreveli 0 6 6 3 4 6 7 5 2 6   4 Ilie Năstase Alex Metreveli 6 0 6 2 6 4       5 Toma Ovici Teimuraz Kakulia 6 3 6 3 6 1

Czechoslovakia vs. Italy

Czechoslovakia 4	Prague, Czechoslovakia[8] 3–5 August 1973 Clay		Italy 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Jan Kodeš Corrado Barazzutti 5 7 6 3 4 6 6 2 1 6   2 Jiří Hřebec Antonio Zugarelli 12 10 6 1 6 1       3 Jan Kodeš / František Pála Giordano Majoli / Pietro Marzano 6 2 8 6 6 4       4 Jiří Hřebec Corrado Barazzutti 9 7 6 1 6 4       5 Jan Kodeš Antonio Zugarelli 6 1 6 3 0 6 6 2

Australia vs. Czechoslovakia

Australia 4	Kooyong Stadium, Melbourne, Australia[9] 16–18 November 1973 Grass		Czechoslovakia 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Rod Laver Jan Kodeš 6 3 7 5 7 5       2 John Newcombe Jiří Hřebec 4 6 10 8 4 6 5 7     3 Rod Laver / Ken Rosewall Jan Kodeš / Vladimír Zedník 6 4 14 12 7 9 8 6     4 Rod Laver Jiří Hřebec 5 7 6 3 6 4 4 6 6 4   5 John Newcombe Jan Kodeš 6 2 6 2 6 4

United States vs. Romania

United States 4	Round Hill Country Club, Alamo, California, United States[10] 17–19 August 1973 Hard		Romania 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Marty Riessen Ilie Năstase 2 6 4 6 2 6       2 Stan Smith Toma Ovici 7 5 6 1 6 3       3 Stan Smith / Erik van Dillen Ilie Năstase / Ionel Sânteiu 6 2 7 5 6 2       4 Marty Riessen Toma Ovici 6 1 4 6 6 1 7 5     5 Stan Smith Ilie Năstase 5 7 6 2 6 3 4 6 6 3

United States vs. Australia

United States 0	Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio, United States[3] 30 November–2 December 1973 Carpet (indoors)		Australia 5
1 2 3 4 5 1 Stan Smith John Newcombe 1 6 6 3 3 6 6 3 4 6   2 Tom Gorman Rod Laver 10 8 6 8 8 6 3 6 1 6   3 Stan Smith / Erik van Dillen Rod Laver / John Newcombe 1 6 2 6 4 6       4 Tom Gorman John Newcombe 2 6 1 6 3 6       5 Stan Smith Rod Laver 3 6 4 6 6 3 2 6

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