2009 Davis Cup World Group

2009 Davis Cup World Group
Date	6 March – 6 December
Edition	29th
Champions
Spain
← 2008 · Davis Cup · 2010 →

The World Group was the highest level of Davis Cup competition in 2009. The first-round losers went into the Davis Cup World Group play-offs, and the winners progress to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinalists were guaranteed a World Group spot for 2010.

Participating teams

Participating teams
Argentina	Austria	Chile	Croatia
Czech Republic	France	Germany	Israel
Netherlands	Romania	Russia	Serbia
Spain	Sweden	Switzerland	United States

Draw

First round

Argentina vs. Netherlands

Argentina 5	Estadio Parque Roca, Buenos Aires, Argentina[1] 6–8 March 2009 Clay		Netherlands 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Juan Ignacio Chela Jesse Huta Galung 6 2 2 6 6 2 64 77 6 2   2 Juan Mónaco Thiemo de Bakker 6 1 6 2 77 61       3 Lucas Arnold Ker / Martín Vassallo Argüello Jesse Huta Galung / Rogier Wassen 6 4 7 5 6 3       4 Martín Vassallo Argüello Matwé Middelkoop 6 2 6 4         5 Juan Ignacio Chela Thiemo de Bakker 7 5 6 2

Czech Republic vs. France

Czech Republic 3	ČEZ Aréna, Ostrava, Czech Republic[2] 6–8 March 2009 Carpet (i)		France 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Tomáš Berdych Gilles Simon 77 63 4 6 77 62 6 3     2 Radek Štěpánek Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5 7 2 6 61 77       3 Tomáš Berdych / Radek Štěpánek Richard Gasquet / Michaël Llodra 6 3 1 6 6 4 6 2     4 Radek Štěpánek Gilles Simon 77 62 6 3 7 6       5 Jan Hernych Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2 6 77 65 60 77

United States vs. Switzerland

United States 4	Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex Arena, Birmingham, United States[3] 6–8 March 2009 Hard (i)		Switzerland 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 James Blake Stanislas Wawrinka 6 3 4 6 3 6 63 77     2 Andy Roddick Marco Chiudinelli 6 1 6 3 77 65       3 Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan Yves Allegro / Stanislas Wawrinka 6 3 6 4 3 6 77 62     4 Andy Roddick Stanislas Wawrinka 6 4 6 4 6 2       5 James Blake Marco Chiudinelli 6 4 78 66

Croatia vs. Chile

Croatia 5	Višenamjenska Sportska Dvorana Žatika, Poreč, Croatia[4] 6–8 March 2009 Hard (i)		Chile 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Mario Ančić Nicolás Massú 6 3 6 3 77 64       2 Marin Čilić Paul Capdeville 6 1 6 2 6 1       3 Mario Ančić / Marin Čilić Paul Capdeville / Nicolás Massú 6 3 6 3 3 6 6 4     4 Roko Karanušić Guillermo Hormazábal 7 5 6 3         5 Ivo Karlović Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6 3 77 64

Sweden vs. Israel

Sweden 2	The Baltic Hall, Malmö, Sweden[5] 6–8 March 2009 Carpet (i)		Israel 3
1 2 3 4 5 1 Thomas Johansson Harel Levy 63 77 6 4 7 5 4 6 8 6   2 Andreas Vinciguerra Dudi Sela 6 4 3 6 6 3 3 6 9 11   3 Simon Aspelin / Robert Lindstedt Amir Hadad / Andy Ram 6 4 1 6 77 64 6 4     4 Thomas Johansson Dudi Sela 6 3 1 6 6 4 4 6 2 6   5 Andreas Vinciguerra Harel Levy 4 6 6 4 4 6 6 3 6 8

Controversy and riots

Sweden attracted controversy when they forbade fans from seeing the matches inside the Baltic Hall, fearing anti-Israeli violence.^[16] Several Swedish politicians, including the mayor of Malmö and the head of the Green Party, said that they wanted to cancel the match instead of having an Israeli team play in the city, but after it was strongly pointed out that Sweden would suffer a forfeit loss and immediate elimination from the Cup tournament, the prospect of a cancellation was nixed. A proposal to move the matches to Stockholm fell through because of limited preparation time.^[17] Israeli player Andy Ram condemned the switch, calling it a "stupid decision".^[18] In the end, anti-Israel protesters rioted outside the stadium while the Swedish team was stunned when Israel defeated them.

The Davis Cup fined the Swedish tennis federation $25,000 and ordered them to pay an additional $15,000 in what would have been gate receipts. The city of Malmö was also banned from hosting Davis Cup matches for the next five years, and Sweden will lose its choice of venue if it happens again, being required to guarantee that future matches will be open to the public.^[19]

Romania vs. Russia

Romania 1	Sala Transilvania, Sibiu, Romania[6] 6–8 March 2009 Carpet (i)		Russia 4
1 2 3 4 5 1 Victor Crivoi Marat Safin 65 77 4 6 4 6       2 Victor Hănescu Mikhail Youzhny 4 6 2 6 4 6       3 Marius Copil / Horia Tecău Marat Safin / Dmitry Tursunov 4 6 62 77 77 64 77 65 6 4   4 Victor Hănescu Dmitry Tursunov 6 4 7 5 3 6 4 6 2 6   5 Victor Crivoi Teymuraz Gabashvili 4 6 2 6

Germany vs. Austria

Germany 3	Olympia Eissportzentrum, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany[7] 6–8 March 2009 Hard (i)		Austria 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Rainer Schüttler Stefan Koubek 4 6 5 7 7 5 2 6     2 Philipp Kohlschreiber Jürgen Melzer 64 77 4 6 6 4 6 3 6 3   3 Nicolas Kiefer / Philipp Kohlschreiber Julian Knowle / Alexander Peya 6 3 78 66 3 6 6 4     4 Nicolas Kiefer Jürgen Melzer 77 63 6 4 6 4       5 Christopher Kas Stefan Koubek 2 6 3 6

Spain vs. Serbia

Spain 4	Parque Temático Terra Mítica, Benidorm, Spain[8] 7–8 March 2009 Clay		Serbia 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 David Ferrer Novak Djokovic 6 3 6 3 77 64       2 Rafael Nadal Janko Tipsarević 6 1 6 0 6 2       3 Tommy Robredo / Feliciano López Viktor Troicki / Nenad Zimonjić 65 77 4 6 67 79       4 Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic 6 4 6 4 6 1       5 David Ferrer Viktor Troicki 6 0 6 3

Quarterfinals

Czech Republic vs. Argentina

Czech Republic 3	ČEZ Aréna, Ostrava, Czech Republic[9] 10–12 July 2009 Carpet (i)		Argentina 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Tomáš Berdych Juan Mónaco 6 4 2 6 2 6 6 3 6 2   2 Ivo Minář Juan Martín del Potro 1 6 3 6 3 6       3 Tomáš Berdych / Radek Štěpánek José Acasuso / Leonardo Mayer 6 1 6 4 6 3       4 Tomáš Berdych Juan Martín del Potro 4 6 4 6 4 6       5 Radek Štěpánek Juan Mónaco 77 65 6 3 6 2

Croatia vs. United States

Croatia 3	Višenamjenska Sportska Dvorana Žatika, Poreč, Croatia[10] 10–12 July 2009 Clay (i)		United States 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Ivo Karlović James Blake 65 77 4 6 6 3 77 63 7 5   2 Marin Čilić Mardy Fish 4 6 6 3 63 77 6 1 8 6   3 Roko Karanušić / Lovro Zovko Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan 3 6 1 6 3 6       4 Marin Čilić James Blake 6 3 6 3 4 6 6 2     5 Roko Karanušić Bob Bryan 7 5 3 6 64 77

Israel vs. Russia

Israel 4	Yad Eliyahu Arena, Tel Aviv, Israel[11] 10–12 July 2009 Hard (i)		Russia 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Harel Levy Igor Andreev 6 4 6 2 4 6 6 2     2 Dudi Sela Mikhail Youzhny 3 6 6 1 6 0 7 5     3 Jonathan Erlich / Andy Ram Igor Kunitsyn / Marat Safin 6 3 6 4 63 77 4 6 6 4   4 Dudi Sela Igor Andreev 3 4         retired   5 Harel Levy Igor Kunitsyn 6 4 4 6 77 62

Spain vs. Germany

Spain 3	Plaza de Toros de Puerto Banús, Marbella, Spain[12] 10–12 July 2009 Clay		Germany 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Fernando Verdasco Andreas Beck 6 0 3 6 64 77 6 2 6 1   2 Tommy Robredo Philipp Kohlschreiber 3 6 4 6 4 6       3 Feliciano López / Fernando Verdasco Nicolas Kiefer / Mischa Zverev 6 3 77 61 66 78 6 3     4 Fernando Verdasco Philipp Kohlschreiber 4 6 2 6 6 1 6 2 6 8   5 Juan Carlos Ferrero Andreas Beck 6 4 6 4 6 4

Semifinals

Croatia vs. Czech Republic

Croatia 1	Sportska Dvorana 'Zatika', Poreč, Croatia[13] 18–20 September 2009 Clay (i)		Czech Republic 4
1 2 3 4 5 1 Ivo Karlović Radek Štěpánek 77 65 65 77 66 78 77 62 14 16   2 Marin Čilić Tomáš Berdych 3 6 3 6 6 3 6 4 3 6   3 Marin Čilić / Lovro Zovko Tomáš Berdych / Radek Štěpánek 1 6 3 6 4 6       4 Roko Karanušić Jan Hájek 64 77 4 6         5 Lovro Zovko Lukáš Dlouhý 6 3 6 4

Spain vs. Israel

Spain 4	Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort, Murcia, Spain[14] 18–20 September 2009 Clay		Israel 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 David Ferrer Harel Levy 6 1 6 4 6 3       2 Juan Carlos Ferrero Dudi Sela 6 4 6 2 6 0       3 Feliciano López / Tommy Robredo Jonathan Erlich / Andy Ram 78 66 67 79 6 4 6 2     4 David Ferrer Andy Ram 6 3 6 1         5 Feliciano López Harel Levy 5 7 2 6

Final

Spain vs. Czech Republic

Spain 5	Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain[15] 4–6 December 2009 Clay (i)		Czech Republic 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Rafael Nadal Tomáš Berdych 7 5 6 0 6 2       2 David Ferrer Radek Štěpánek 1 6 2 6 6 4 6 4 8 6   3 Feliciano López / Fernando Verdasco Tomáš Berdych / Radek Štěpánek 79 67 7 5 6 2       4 Rafael Nadal Jan Hájek 6 3 6 4         5 David Ferrer Lukáš Dlouhý 6 4 6 2

References