# 1998 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I

The Europe/Africa Zone was one of the three zones of the regional Davis Cup competition in 1998.
In the Europe/Africa Zone there were four different tiers, called groups, in which teams competed against each other to advance to the upper tier. Winners in Group I advanced to the World Group qualifying round, along with losing teams from the World Group first round. Teams who lost in the first round competed in the relegation play-offs, with winning teams remaining in Group I, whereas teams who lost their play-offs were relegated to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 1999.

## Participating nations

* Austria
* Croatia
* Denmark
* Finland
* France
* Great Britain
* Israel
* Norway
* Romania
* Ukraine

### Draw

| Second Round Play-offs | Second Round Play-offs | Second Round Play-offs | First Round Play-offs | First Round Play-offs | First Round | First Round | First Round | Second Round | Second Round | Second Round |
| | | | | | France | France | | | | |
| | | | | | France | France | | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) |
| | | | Croatia | Croatia | bye | bye | | France | France | 4 |
| | | | Croatia | Croatia | Helsinki, Finland (hard) | Helsinki, Finland (hard) | Helsinki, Finland (hard) | France | France | 4 |
| | | | bye | bye | Helsinki, Finland (hard) | Helsinki, Finland (hard) | Helsinki, Finland (hard) | Finland | Finland | 1 |
| | | | bye | bye | Croatia | Croatia | 2 | Finland | Finland | 1 |
| Oslo, Norway (clay) | Oslo, Norway (clay) | Oslo, Norway (clay) | | | Croatia | Croatia | 2 | | | |
| Oslo, Norway (clay) | Oslo, Norway (clay) | Oslo, Norway (clay) | | | Finland | Finland | 3 | | | |
| Croatia | Croatia | 3 | | | Finland | Finland | 3 | | | |
| Norway | Norway | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Norway | Norway | 2 | | | Romania | Romania | | | | |
| | | | | | Romania | Romania | | Bucharest, Romania (indoor hard) | Bucharest, Romania (indoor hard) |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | Bucharest, Romania (indoor hard) | Bucharest, Romania (indoor hard) |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Romania | Romania | 4 |
| | | | Norway | Norway | | | | Norway | Norway | 1 |
| | | | Norway | Norway | bye | bye | | Norway | Norway | 1 |
| | | | | | Norway | Norway | | | |
| | | | | | Israel | Israel | | | |
| | | | | | Israel | Israel | | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) |
| | | | Austria | Austria | bye | bye | | Israel | Israel | 4 |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | Austria | Austria | 1 |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Austria | Austria | 1 |
| Pörtschach, Austria (clay) | Pörtschach, Austria (clay) | Pörtschach, Austria (clay) | | | bye | bye | | | | |
| Pörtschach, Austria (clay) | Pörtschach, Austria (clay) | Pörtschach, Austria (clay) | | | Austria | Austria | | | | |
| Austria | Austria | 5 | | | Austria | Austria | | | | |
| Austria | Austria | 5 | | | Kyiv, Ukraine (indoor carpet) | Kyiv, Ukraine (indoor carpet) | Kyiv, Ukraine (indoor carpet) | | | |
| Denmark | Denmark | 0 | | | Kyiv, Ukraine (indoor carpet) | Kyiv, Ukraine (indoor carpet) | Kyiv, Ukraine (indoor carpet) | | | |
| Denmark | Denmark | 0 | | | Ukraine | Ukraine | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | Ukraine | Ukraine | 3 | Newcastle, England (indoor carpet) | Newcastle, England (indoor carpet) |
| | | | | | Denmark | Denmark | 2 | Newcastle, England (indoor carpet) | Newcastle, England (indoor carpet) |
| | | | Denmark | Denmark | Denmark | Denmark | 2 | Ukraine | Ukraine | 0 |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | Great Britain | Great Britain | 5 |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Great Britain | Great Britain | 5 |
| | | | | | Great Britain | Great Britain | | | | |
* Norway and Denmark relegated to Group II in 1999.
* France, Romania, Israel, and Great Britain advance to World Group qualifying round.

## First round
### Finland vs. Croatia

| Finland 3 | Tali Tennis Centre, Helsinki, Finland 13–15 February 1998 Hard | Tali Tennis Centre, Helsinki, Finland 13–15 February 1998 Hard | Croatia 2 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Ville Liukko Ivan Ljubičić 4 6 6 4 7 5 6 4     2 Tuomas Ketola Saša Hiršzon 4 6 6 3 0 6 6$^5$ 7$^7$     3 Tuomas Ketola / Ville Liukko Saša Hiršzon / Ivan Ljubičić 6 2 3 6 4 6 6 3 6 4   4 Tuomas Ketola Ivan Ljubičić 6 3 6 3 6 3       5 Ville Liukko Željko Krajan 5 7 6$^3$ 7$^7$ ||||

### Ukraine vs. Denmark

| Ukraine 3 | Nauka Tennis Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine 13–15 February 1998 Carpet (indoors) | Nauka Tennis Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine 13–15 February 1998 Carpet (indoors) | Denmark 2 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Andriy Medvedev Frederik Fetterlein 6 3 6 4 7 5       2 Andrei Rybalko Kenneth Carlsen 2 6 6$^4$ 7$^7$ 3 6       3 Andriy Medvedev / Dimitri Poliakov Kenneth Carlsen / Frederik Fetterlein 6 3 3 6 6$^4$ 7$^7$ 7$^8$ 6$^6$ 6 4   4 Andriy Medvedev Kenneth Carlsen 6 3 6 3 6 3       5 Denis Yakimenko Frederik Fetterlein 2 6 2 6 ||||

## Second round
### Finland vs. France

| Finland 1 | Tali Tennis Centre, Helsinki, Finland 3–5 April 1998 Carpet (indoors) | Tali Tennis Centre, Helsinki, Finland 3–5 April 1998 Carpet (indoors) | France 4 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Tuomas Ketola Guillaume Raoux 1 6 1 6 1 6       2 Ville Liukko Cédric Pioline 3 6 5 7 5 7       3 Tuomas Ketola / Tommi Lenho Nicolas Escudé / Guillaume Raoux 5 7 6 4 6$^1$ 7$^7$ 2 6     4 Tapio Nurminen Jérôme Golmard 6$^4$ 7$^7$ 4 6         5 Tommi Lenho Guillaume Raoux 6 3 6 4 ||||

### Romania vs. Norway

| Romania 4 | Palatul Sport Culturii, Bucharest, Romania 3–5 April 1998 Hard (indoors) | Palatul Sport Culturii, Bucharest, Romania 3–5 April 1998 Hard (indoors) | Norway 1 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Dinu Pescariu Jan Frode Andersen 7$^7$ 6$^2$ 6 4 6 4       2 Andrei Pavel Christian Ruud 6 2 6 2 6 2       3 Andrei Pavel / Gabriel Trifu Lars Hjarrand / Helge Koll-Frafjord 6 3 6 2 6 2       4 Dinu Pescariu Christian Ruud 4 6 6 4 4 6       5 Andrei Pavel Jan Frode Andersen 6 4 6 4 ||||

### Israel vs. Austria

| Israel 4 | Canada Stadium, Ramat HaSharon, Israel 3–5 April 1998 Hard | Canada Stadium, Ramat HaSharon, Israel 3–5 April 1998 Hard | Austria 1 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Eyal Erlich Gerald Mandl 6 1 7$^7$ 6$^4$ 7 5       2 Amir Hadad Stefan Koubek 7$^7$ 6$^5$ 6 4 6 3       3 Noam Behr / Eyal Erlich Thomas Buchmayer / Wolfgang Schranz 6 4 7$^7$ 6$^3$ 4 6 1 6 6 4   4 Noam Behr Stefan Koubek 7$^7$ 6$^3$ 6 1         5 Amir Hadad Wolfgang Schranz 4 6 7 5 3 6 ||||

### Great Britain vs. Ukraine

| Great Britain 5 | Telewest Arena, Newcastle, England 3–5 April 1998 Carpet (indoors) | Telewest Arena, Newcastle, England 3–5 April 1998 Carpet (indoors) | Ukraine 0 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Greg Rusedski Andrei Rybalko 6 4 6 0 6 4       2 Tim Henman Andriy Medvedev 6 2 6$^4$ 7$^7$ 6 4 1 6 6 1   3 Tim Henman / Greg Rusedski Andriy Medvedev / Andrei Rybalko 6 4 7 5 7$^{11}$ 6$^9$       4 Greg Rusedski Andriy Medvedev 6 1 6 4         5 Tim Henman Andrei Rybalko 6 1 2 6 6 2 ||||

## Second round relegation play-offs
### Norway vs. Croatia

| Norway 2 | Oslo Tennis Club, Oslo, Norway 25–27 September 1998 Clay | Oslo Tennis Club, Oslo, Norway 25–27 September 1998 Clay | Croatia 3 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Christian Ruud Lovro Zovko 7$^7$ 6$^5$ 6 4 6 1       2 Jan Frode Andersen Ivan Ljubičić 4 6 4 6 7$^7$ 6$^5$ 4 6     3 Jan Frode Andersen / Christian Ruud Ivan Ljubičić / Lovro Zovko 4 6 6 3 2 6 6 3 6 8   4 Christian Ruud Ivan Ljubičić 1 6 1 6 3 6       5 Jan Frode Andersen Lovro Zovko 6 2 6 3 ||||

### Austria vs. Denmark

| Austria 5 | Werzer Arena, Pörtschach, Austria 25–27 September 1998 Clay | Werzer Arena, Pörtschach, Austria 25–27 September 1998 Clay | Denmark 0 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Markus Hipfl Kenneth Carlsen 6 4 6 0 6 3       2 Stefan Koubek Thomas Larsen 3 6 3 6 6 4 6 0 6 2   3 Wolfgang Schranz / Thomas Strengberger Kenneth Carlsen / Frederik Fetterlein 6 3 6 2 6 4       4 Wolfgang Schranz Frederik Fetterlein 6 3 6$^3$ 7$^7$ 6 1       5 Markus Hipfl Thomas Larsen 6 1 6 3 ||||