1997 Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I – Knockout Stage

The Knockout Stage of the 1997 Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I was the final stage of the Zonal Competition involving teams from Europe and Africa. Those that qualified for this stage placed first and second in their respective pools.

Placing	Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
1	Russia	Italy	Belarus	Slovenia
2	Greece	Sweden	Hungary	Israel
3	Bulgaria	Romania	Poland	Latvia
4		Ukraine	Finland	Georgia

The eight teams were then randomly drawn into two two-stage knockout tournaments, with the winners advancing to the World Group II Play-offs.

Draw

	Semifinals 27 April					Finals 28 April
		Russia	2
		Israel	1
							Russia	3
							Belarus	0
		Sweden	1
		Belarus	2
		Italy	3
		Greece	0
							Italy	2
							Hungary	1
		Hungary	2
		Slovenia	1

Semifinals

Russia vs. Israel

Russia 2	Bari T.C., Bari, Italy 25 April 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Israel 1
1 2 3 1 Anna Kournikova Hila Rosen 1 6 6^3 7^7     2 Elena Likhovtseva Anna Smashnova 6 4 6 0     3 Anna Kournikova / Elena Likhovtseva Tzipora Obziler / Hila Rosen 7^7 6^1 3 6 7 5

^[1]

Sweden vs. Belarus

Sweden 1	Bari T.C., Bari, Italy 25 April 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Belarus 2
1 2 3 1 Anna-Karin Svensson Olga Barabanschikova 5 7 3 6     2 Maria Strandlund Natasha Zvereva 4 6 3 6     3 Sofia Finer / Annica Lindstedt Tatiana Ignatieva / Tatiana Poutchek 6 4 2 6 7 5

^[2]

Italy vs. Greece

Italy 3	Bari T.C., Bari, Italy 25 April 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Greece 0
1 2 3 1 Gloria Pizzichini Christina Zachariadou 6 0 6 3     2 Silvia Farina Christína Papadáki 2 6 6 3 9 7   3 Giulia Casoni / Francesca Lubiani Christína Papadáki / Christina Zachariadou 6 4 7 5

^[3]

Hungary vs. Slovenia

Hungary 2	Bari T.C., Bari, Italy 25 April 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Slovenia 1
1 2 3 1 Anna Földényi Tina Križan 6 4 6 4     2 Katalin Marosi Barbara Mulej 6 1 6 4     3 Anna Földényi / Katalin Marosi Tina Križan / Katarina Srebotnik 1 6 2 6

^[4]

Finals

Russia vs. Belarus

Russia 3	Bari T.C., Bari, Italy 26 April 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Belarus 0
1 2 3 1 Elena Makarova Olga Barabanschikova 6 2 6 4     2 Elena Likhovtseva Natasha Zvereva 6 4 7^7 6^1     3 Anna Kournikova / Elena Likhovtseva Olga Barabanschikova / Tatiana Poutchek 6 3 7 5

^[5]

•  Russia advanced to the World Group II Play-offs, where they were drawn against  South Korea. They won 4–1, and thus proceeded to the 1998 World Group II.^[6]

Italy vs. Hungary

Italy 2	Bari T.C., Bari, Italy 26 April 1997 Red clay (outdoors)		Hungary 1
1 2 3 1 Francesca Lubiani Anna Földényi 5 7 5 7     2 Gloria Pizzichini Katalin Marosi 6 4 6 1     3 Giulia Casoni / Gloria Pizzichini Anna Földényi / Katalin Marosi 6 3 6 3

^[7]

•  Italy advanced to the World Group II Play-offs, where they were drawn against  Indonesia. They won 5–0, and thus proceeded to the 1998 World Group II.^[8]

See also

• Fed Cup structure

References

1. "Russia v Israel". fedcup.com.
2. "Sweden v Belarus". fedcup.com.
3. "Italy v Greece". fedcup.com.
4. "Hungary v Slovenia". fedcup.com.
5. "Russia v Belarus". fedcup.com.
6. "South Korea v Russia". fedcup.com.
7. "Italy v Hungary". fedcup.com.
8. "Indonesia v Italy". fedcup.com.

External links

• Fed Cup website