# 1978 Nations Cup (tennis)

The 1978 Nations Cup, also known by its sponsored name Ambre Solaire Nations Cup, was a men's team tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the second edition of the Nations Cup and the event was part of the 1978 Grand Prix circuit. It took place at the Rochusclub in Düsseldorf in West Germany from 8 May through 15 May 1978. Total prize money was £100,000 and in total 36,000 people attended the event. The United States were the defending champions. Spain defeated Australia in the final, watched by a crowd of nearly 7,000, to win the title for the first time and earn the $60,000 first-prize money.
The draw consisted of eight teams divided over two round-robin groups. The two best ranked teams from each group proceeded to the semifinals. Each match consisted of two singles and a doubles.

## Round robin
### Section A
#### Standings

| Pos. | Country | Points | Matches | Sets |
| 1 | Italy | 3–0 | 6–2 | 13–9 |
| 2 | Spain | 2–1 | 5–4 | 13–10 |
| 3 | Chile | 1–2 | 4–5 | 9–13 |
| 4 | Germany | 0–3 | 3–6 | 10–13 |

#### Spain vs. Germany

| Spain 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Germany 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Manuel Orantes Jürgen Fassbender 7 5 2 6 6 1   2 José Higueras Uli Pinner 6 3 6 3     3 Manuel Orantes / José Higueras Uli Pinner / Jürgen Fassbender 6 2 5 7 3 6 ||||

#### Italy vs. Chile

| Italy 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Chile 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Adriano Panatta Jaime Fillol 6 3 6 1     2 Paolo Bertolucci Hans Gildemeister 6 3 3 6 5 7   3 Adriano Panatta / Paolo Bertolucci Patricio Cornejo / Jaime Fillol 6 4 6 4 ||||

#### Chile vs. Germany

| Chile 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Germany 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Jaime Fillol Jürgen Fassbender 6 4 1 6 6 3   2 Hans Gildemeister Uli Pinner 4 6 5 7     3 Patricio Cornejo / Jaime Fillol Jürgen Fassbender / Uli Pinner 6 4 7 6 ||||

#### Italy vs. Spain

| Italy 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Spain 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Adriano Panatta Manuel Orantes 7 6 6 7 6 3   2 Paolo Bertolucci José Higueras 2 6 4 6     3 Adriano Panatta / Paolo Bertolucci Manuel Orantes / José Higueras 6 1 6 3 ||||

#### Italy vs. Germany

| Italy 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Germany 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Adriano Panatta Jürgen Fassbender 5 7 4 6     2 Paolo Bertolucci Rolf Gehring 6 4 3 6 6 4   3 Adriano Panatta / Paolo Bertolucci Jürgen Fassbender / Rolf Gehring 6 7 7 6 7 6 ||||

#### Spain vs. Chile

| Spain 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Chile 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Manuel Orantes Jaime Fillol 6 2 6 4     2 José Higueras Hans Gildemeister 6 4 2 6 7 5   3 Manuel Orantes / José Higueras Jaime Fillol / Patricio Cornejo 6 4 6 7 2 6 ||||

### Section B
#### Standings

| Pos. | Country | Points | Matches | Sets |
| 1 | United States | 3–0 | 6–3 | 14–6 |
| 2 | Australia | 2–1 | 5–4 | 10–10 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 1–2 | 4–5 | 10–11 |
| 4 | Poland | 0–3 | 3–6 | 7–14 |

#### USA vs. Australia

| United States 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Australia 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Roscoe Tanner Phil Dent 6 2 7 6     2 Harold Solomon John Newcombe 6 4 6 4     3 Roscoe Tanner / Bob Lutz Phil Dent / John Newcombe 3 6 6 3 3 6 ||||

#### Great Britain vs. Poland

| Great Britain 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Poland 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Buster Mottram Wojciech Fibak 6 3 2 6 6 7   2 John Lloyd Tadeusz Nowicki 6 2 6 2     3 John Lloyd / Buster Mottram Wojciech Fibak / Tadeusz Nowicki 2 6 6 2 7 6 ||||

#### USA vs. Poland

| United States 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Poland 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Roscoe Tanner Wojciech Fibak 6 2 6 4     2 Harold Solomon Tadeusz Nowicki 6 2 6 2     3 Roscoe Tanner / Bob Lutz Wojciech Fibak / Tadeusz Nowicki 6 7 6 0 3 6 ||||

#### Australia vs. Great Britain

| Australia 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Great Britain 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Phil Dent Buster Mottram 6 2 7 6     2 John Newcombe John Lloyd 6 7 2 6     3 Phil Dent / John Newcombe John Lloyd / Buster Mottram 2 6 6 3 7 5 ||||

#### USA vs. Great Britain

| United States 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Great Britain 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Roscoe Tanner Buster Mottram 4 6 6 7     2 Harold Solomon John Lloyd 6 3 6 0     3 Roscoe Tanner / Bob Lutz John Lloyd / Buster Mottram 6 3 7 5 ||||

#### Australia vs. Poland

| Australia 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Poland 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Phil Dent Wojciech Fibak 0 6 1 6     2 John Newcombe Tadeusz Nowicki 7 5 6 1     3 Phil Dent / John Newcombe Wojciech Fibak / Tadeusz Nowicki 6 2 6 2 ||||

## Semifinal
### Australia vs. Italy

| Australia 3 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Italy 0 |
| 1 2 3 1 Phil Dent Adriano Panatta 7 6 5 4     2 John Newcombe Paolo Bertolucci 6 3 6 2     3 John Newcombe / Phil Dent Paolo Bertolucci / Antonio Zugarelli 7 6 5 3 ||||

### Spain vs. USA

| Spain 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany May 1978 Clay | United States 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 Manuel Orantes Roscoe Tanner 6 4 7 6     2 José Higueras Harold Solomon 6 2 6 2     3 Manuel Orantes / José Higueras Harold Solomon / Bob Lutz 6 2 4 6 5 7 ||||

## Final
### Spain vs. Australia

| Spain 2 | Düsseldorf, Germany 16 May 1978 Clay | Düsseldorf, Germany 16 May 1978 Clay | Australia 1 |
| 1 2 3 1 José Higueras John Newcombe 6 2 6 3     2 Manuel Orantes Phil Dent 6 3 6 4     3 Manuel Orantes / José Higueras John Newcombe / Phil Dent 6 7 4 6 ||||