1976 Davis Cup


The 1976 Davis Cup was the 65th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 58 teams would enter the competition, 32 in the Europe Zone, 14 in the Americas Zone, and 12 in the Eastern Zone. This year's tournament saw all teams in the Americas Zone competing in one single bracket, with the previous North & Central America and South America sub-zones, and subsequently the Americas Inter-Zonal final, being eliminated. This brought the Americas Zone in line with the outline of the other zones, with the previous year's Americas sub-zone champions progressing to the new Americas main draw semifinals.
Chile defeated South Africa in the Americas Zone final, Australia defeated New Zealand in the Eastern Zone final, and the Soviet Union and Italy were the winners of the two Europe Zones, defeating Hungary and Great Britain respectively.
In the Inter-Zonal Zone, Italy defeated Australia in their first semifinal, while in the second semifinal Chile was declared the winner by default after the Soviet Union, in opposition to the human rights violations of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, refused to travel to face the Chilean team on home soil. In the final, held in the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile on 17–19 December, Italy defeated Chile to win their first title and become the seventh nation to win the Davis Cup.

Americas Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Chile vs. South Africa

Eastern Zone

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Australia vs. New Zealand

Europe Zone

Zone A

Pre-Qualifying Round

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Soviet Union vs. Hungary

Zone B

Pre-Qualifying Rounds

Preliminary Rounds

Main Draw

Final

Great Britain vs. Italy

Inter-Zonal Zone

Draw

Semifinals

Italy vs. Australia
Chile vs. Soviet Union
The match was scratched and Chile advanced to the Final as the Soviet Union refused to travel to Chile for the match due to their opposition to the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The Soviet team were subsequently banned from entering the 1977 and 1978 competitions.

Final

Chile vs. Italy