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
Draw
First round Argentina vs. Netherlands
Czech Republic vs. France
United States vs. Switzerland
Croatia vs. Chile
Sweden vs. Israel
Controversy and riots
Sweden attracted controversy when they forbade fans from seeing the matches inside Baltiska Hallen, fearing anti-Israeli violence.No fans allowed when Sweden hosts Israel in Davis Cup – ESPN.com 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.Sweden-Israel Davis Cup matches still to be played with no fans – ESPN.com Israeli player Andy Ram condemned the switch, calling it a "stupid decision".Andy Ram says fan ban at Israel-Sweden Davis Cup 'stupid decision' – ESPN.com On the 7 March a breakaway group from an anti-Israel protest attacked police outside the stadium as the match was ongoing inside.
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.Davis Cup fines Swedish tennis for playing Israel without fans Since 2009, Israeli teams have competed in numerous sporting events inside Sweden and no repeat instances of attempted boycotts/spectator bans have been tried since Malmo.
Romania vs. Russia
Germany vs. Austria
Spain vs. Serbia
Quarterfinals Czech Republic vs. Argentina
Croatia vs. United States
Israel vs. Russia
Spain vs. Germany
Semifinals Croatia vs. Czech Republic
Spain vs. Israel
Final
Spain vs. Czech Republic
References