# 1996 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I

The Europe/Africa Zone was one of the three zones of the regional Davis Cup competition in 1996.
In the Europe/Africa Zone there were three 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 1997.

## Participating nations

* Croatia
* Finland
* Israel
* Morocco
* Norway
* Romania
* Spain
* Ukraine
* Zimbabwe

### 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 |
| | | | | | Morocco | Morocco | | | | |
| | | | | | Morocco | Morocco | | Casablanca, Morocco (clay) | Casablanca, Morocco (clay) | Casablanca, Morocco (clay) |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | Casablanca, Morocco (clay) | Casablanca, Morocco (clay) | Casablanca, Morocco (clay) |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Morocco | Morocco | 4 |
| | | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | | | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | 1 |
| | | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | bye | bye | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | 1 |
| Harare, Zimbabwe (hard) | Harare, Zimbabwe (hard) | Harare, Zimbabwe (hard) | | | bye | bye | | | | |
| Harare, Zimbabwe (hard) | Harare, Zimbabwe (hard) | Harare, Zimbabwe (hard) | | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | | | | |
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | 4 | | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | | | | |
| Finland | Finland | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Finland | Finland | 1 | | | Romania | Romania | | | | |
| | | | | | Romania | Romania | | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) | Helsinki, Finland (indoor carpet) |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Romania | Romania | 3 |
| | | | Finland | Finland | | | | Finland | Finland | 2 |
| | | | Finland | Finland | bye | bye | | Finland | Finland | 2 |
| | | | | | Finland | Finland | | | |
| | | | | | Ukraine | Ukraine | | | |
| | | | | | Ukraine | Ukraine | | Dubrovnik, Croatia (indoor carpet) | Dubrovnik, Croatia (indoor carpet) | Dubrovnik, Croatia (indoor carpet) |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | Dubrovnik, Croatia (indoor carpet) | Dubrovnik, Croatia (indoor carpet) | Dubrovnik, Croatia (indoor carpet) |
| | | | Ukraine | Ukraine | bye | bye | | Ukraine | Ukraine | 0 |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | Croatia | Croatia | 5 |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Croatia | Croatia | 5 |
| Kyiv, Ukraine (clay) | Kyiv, Ukraine (clay) | Kyiv, Ukraine (clay) | | | bye | bye | | | | |
| Kyiv, Ukraine (clay) | Kyiv, Ukraine (clay) | Kyiv, Ukraine (clay) | | | Croatia | Croatia | | | | |
| Ukraine | Ukraine | 4 | | | Croatia | Croatia | | | | |
| Ukraine | Ukraine | 4 | | | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | | | |
| Norway | Norway | 1 | | | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | | | |
| Norway | Norway | 1 | | | Norway | Norway | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | Norway | Norway | 2 | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) |
| | | | | | Israel | Israel | 3 | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) | Ramat HaSharon, Israel (hard) |
| | | | Norway | Norway | Israel | Israel | 3 | Israel | Israel | 1 |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | Spain | Spain | 4 |
| | | | bye | bye | bye | bye | | Spain | Spain | 4 |
| | | | | | Spain | Spain | | | | |
* Finland and Norway relegated to Group II in 1997.
* Morocco, Romania, Croatia, and Spain advance to World Group qualifying round.

## First round
### Israel vs. Norway

| Israel 3 | Canada Centre, Ramat HaSharon, Israel 9–12 February 1996 Hard | Canada Centre, Ramat HaSharon, Israel 9–12 February 1996 Hard | Norway 2 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Noam Behr Christian Ruud 6$^5$ 7$^7$ 2 6 2 6       2 Eyal Ran Helge Koll-Frafjord 6 1 6 2 6 4       3 Eyal Erlich / Eyal Ran Helge Koll-Frafjord / Christian Ruud 3 6 6$^5$ 7$^7$ 7 5 6 3 6 4   4 Eyal Ran Christian Ruud 5 7 7$^7$ 6$^5$ 7$^7$ 6$^4$ 3 6 1 6   5 Eyal Erlich Helge Koll-Frafjord 6 4 1 6 6 4 7$^7$ 6$^4$ ||||

## Second round
### Morocco vs. Zimbabwe

| Morocco 4 | Complexe Al Amal, Casablanca, Morocco 5–7 April 1996 Clay | Complexe Al Amal, Casablanca, Morocco 5–7 April 1996 Clay | Zimbabwe 1 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Karim Alami Wayne Black 5 7 6 3 5 7 6 1 2 6   2 Hicham Arazi Byron Black 6 3 6 2 6 1       3 Karim Alami / Hicham Arazi Byron Black / Wayne Black 6 1 3 6 7$^7$ 6$^5$ 6$^4$ 7$^7$ 6 3   4 Karim Alami Malcolm Birch 6 3 6 0 6 1       5 Hicham Arazi Wayne Black 6 3 7$^7$ 6$^5$ ||||

### Finland vs. Romania

| Finland 2 | Talin Tenniskeskus, Helsinki, Finland 5–7 April 1996 Carpet (indoors) | Talin Tenniskeskus, Helsinki, Finland 5–7 April 1996 Carpet (indoors) | Romania 3 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Tuomas Ketola Andrei Pavel 4 6 2 6 4 6       2 Kim Tiilikainen Adrian Voinea 1 6 2 6 4 6       3 Tuomas Ketola / Ville Liukko George Cosac / Dinu Pescariu 2 6 4 6 6$^3$ 7$^7$       4 Tuomas Ketola George Cosac 6 3 7$^7$ 6$^1$         5 Ville Liukko Andrei Pavel 6 3 6 3 ||||

### Croatia vs. Ukraine

| Croatia 5 | Športska dvorana, Dubrovnik, Croatia 5–7 April 1996 Carpet (indoors) | Športska dvorana, Dubrovnik, Croatia 5–7 April 1996 Carpet (indoors) | Ukraine 0 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Goran Ivanišević Andrei Rybalko 6 0 7$^7$ 6$^5$ 6$^4$ 7$^7$ 6 3     2 Saša Hiršzon Dimitri Poliakov 6 2 6 0 6 3       3 Saša Hiršzon / Goran Ivanišević Dimitri Poliakov / Andrei Rybalko 7$^7$ 6$^2$ 6 3 6 2       4 Igor Šarić Victor Trotsko 6 3 6 4         5 Goran Orešić Sergei Yaroshenko 6 1 7$^{12}$ 6$^{10}$ ||||

### Israel vs. Spain

| Israel 1 | Canada Centre, Ramat HaSharon, Israel 5–7 April 1996 Hard | Canada Centre, Ramat HaSharon, Israel 5–7 April 1996 Hard | Spain 4 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Eyal Ran Carlos Costa 6 3 3 6 4 6 0 2   retired  2 Eyal Erlich Albert Costa 2 6 6 3 2 6 2 6     3 Noam Behr / Eyal Erlich Àlex Corretja / Emilio Sánchez 7 5 4 6 4 6 7$^7$ 6$^1$ 6 3   4 Noam Behr Albert Costa 4 6 4 6 2 6       5 Eyal Erlich Carlos Costa 6$^1$ 7$^7$ 1 6 ||||

## Second round relegation play-offs
### Zimbabwe vs. Finland

| Zimbabwe 4 | City Sports Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe 20–22 September 1996 Hard | City Sports Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe 20–22 September 1996 Hard | Finland 1 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Wayne Black Kim Tiilikainen 6 4 7 5 6$^3$ 7$^7$ 6 3     2 Byron Black Ville Liukko 6 3 6 3 6 4       3 Byron Black / Wayne Black Ville Liukko / Kim Tiilikainen 6 1 6 1 6 3       4 Byron Black Tapio Nurminen 6$^7$ 7$^9$ 6 4 6 3       5 Genius Chidzikwe Ville Liukko 1 6 6$^1$ 7$^7$ ||||

### Ukraine vs. Norway

| Ukraine 4 | Nauka Sports Club, Kyiv, Ukraine 20–22 September 1996 Clay | Nauka Sports Club, Kyiv, Ukraine 20–22 September 1996 Clay | Norway 1 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 1 Andriy Medvedev Jan Frode Andersen 6 2 6 2 6 0       2 Andrei Rybalko Christian Ruud 7$^9$ 6$^7$ 6 4 6 4       3 Andriy Medvedev / Dimitri Poliakov Helge Koll-Frafjord / Christian Ruud 6 0 0 6 6 0 6 1     4 Andriy Medvedev Christian Ruud 6 2 6 1         5 Denis Yakimenko Jan Frode Andersen 6$^2$ 7$^7$ 4 6 ||||