The International Tennis Federation announced earlier this week that drastic changes to the Davis Cup competition have been proposed. A potential 25-year, $3 billion partnership between the ITF and investment group Kosmos would transform the Davis Cup into an annual season-ending event over one week at a to-be-determined location in November.
It would be played over seven days during the traditional week of the Davis Cup final, featuring a round-robin format followed by a knockout stage starting in the quarterfinals. Each tie would consist of two singles rubbers and one doubles rubber, all best-of-three sets. This year’s 16 World Group participants would automatically qualify for the main event in 2019, and two additional nations would be selected as proverbial wild cards. There would also be a playoff round held the same week involving the eight nations that qualify from Zone Group I.
Spanish football star Gerard Pique, who plays for FC Barcelona, is the founder and President of Kosmos–a group backed by Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. Rakuten is a Tokyo-based e-commerce company that sponsors the ATP’s Japan Open.
“Kosmos is thrilled to join in this exciting partnership with the ITF,” Pique stated. “Together we can elevate the Davis Cup to new heights by putting on a must-see World Cup of Tennis Finals featuring the top nations and top players.”
There is no debate that new life must be injected into the Davis Cup, which currently takes place over four weeks spread across the entire tennis calendar, from February through November each year. It is failing to attract top players, who struggle with the rigors of their sport’s jam-packed schedule even without Davis Cup. Last season it was further overshadowed by the inaugural Laver Cup, a three-day event in September pitting Europe against the World.
“This is a complete game-changer for the ITF and for tennis,” ITF president David Haggerty assured. “Our Board has supported a bold and ambitious plan for the future of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, one of the sport’s most cherished and important events and a key cornerstone in our ITF2024 strategy.
“Our vision is to create a major season-ending finale that will be a festival of tennis and entertainment, featuring the world’s greatest players representing their nations to decide the Davis Cup champions. This new partnership will not only create a true World Cup of Tennis but will also unlock record levels of new investment for future generations of tennis players and fans around the world.”
Team USA captain Jim Courier is not opposed to the idea, but he also cautioned that it is not set in stone.
“It’s politically tricky and no sure thing that this gets rubber-stamped,” he told the New York Times. “The next step in my view to make this event all it could be would be to include the Fed Cup in this tennis extravaganza. That should be the ultimate goal.”
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discuss.
I’m really not competent to discuss this. I love DC the way it is and the changes take away what I like most about it: 5 set matches, where you get your drama. Almost every tie produces unlikely heroes and goats and passionate, partisan crowds.
But just looking at it from a seller’s viewpoint, tennis HAS a season ending “extravaganza”. Does it really need another one with a similar format? And the same “stars”? Most of those guys are running on fumes by the end of the year. If the ITF wants top players to take part reward them for their efforts instead of guilting them into it. Getting rid of the surface change crap might help. Keep the format, but also keep the “seasonal” surface. Hard, clay, grass, then hard again, either indoor or outdoor as appropriate.
YES!!!….should have been changed decades ago. Do it!!!