LONDON: Alexander Zverev has said he hopes people realize that the Davis Cup is more than money as he launched a fresh attack on the restructured competition.
Next week will be the first time in history that the Davis Cup finals will take place over a week with 18 teams participating. Unlike the past with home and away finals, teams will battle it out in a format similar to that of the FIFA World Cup with group stages deciding who will progress to the quarterfinals. The revamp has been made possible following a 25-year $3 billion investment from Kosmos, which was founded by Barcelona footballer Gerald Pique.
Despite the controversial changes, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray have all pledged to play. However, Zverev will be one of the players absent. Instead, he will travel to South America to play in a series of exhibition matches with Roger Federer.
“I don’t think the format is Davis Cup anymore. I think Davis Cup is the most historic event that we have in tennis, which is over 100 years old, and the Davis Cup is the home-and-away ties.” Zverev said following his win at the ATP Finals on Friday.
“Davis Cup is the whole atmosphere, the play over three days to play five sets and play those tough matches. That’s Davis Cup for me, and not playing it at one venue for one week and deciding it all. That’s not Davis Cup.”
The Caja Magica, which hosts the Madrid Open in May, will be the venue of the Davis Cup finale next week. Leading up to the event, there have been concerns over ticket sales for some of the sessions. Meanwhile, former world No.1 Murray has previously expressed uncertainty over the distribution of tickets for the later stages of the event.
“From what I hear we’ve (the British LTA) sold a lot of tickets and will have a decent fanbase out there.” Said Murray.
“But how does that work if we get through to the quarter-finals – who has tickets for that? How many can stay? We’ll see but it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”
It remains to be seen how much of a hit the new format will be. Although Pique and co are determined to prove their critics wrong. Besides tennis, there will also be opening and closing ceremonies. On November 18th DJ Alan Walker will kick-off then event along with Puerto Rican singer Farruko. On the same day, the Spanish band Taburete will play on the main stadium following the first match between Croatia and Russia. The closing ceremony on the 24th will be headlined by Shakira, who is the wife of Kosmos founder Pique.
Despite the much-needed investment into the Davis Cup, which has encountered financial issues in recent years, Zverev isn’t convinced. Arguing that there is more to the event than money.
“I hope people realize that the Davis Cup is more than just money and all that like they are offering us now. It’s history, and it’s tennis history.” He said.
“It’s more than just what’s on the table for the players now.”
Becker backing
The absence of Zverev is undoubtedly a major blow to the German team. He is one of four players from his country in the top 100, but the only one inside the top 30. Reacting to his absence, Boris Becker has insisted that there are no hard feelings.
“He’s old enough to make his own decision. He decided amongst a few other players when the decision was made to change the Davis Cup format and to have it in one week next year not to participate.” Becker said earlier this week.
“He’s done the decision already a while ago amongst many other players. We accept it.”
As for the decision to play in South America during the same time as the Davis Cup, Becker has defended Zverev. Saying he is entitled to do what he wants.
“What he does in his off time, he’s his own man. We were all our own boss. What he chooses to do or not to do between the end of the ATP Finals and the beginning of 2020 is his choice.” He stated.
Zverev is already qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games, but he will need to return to the event if he will be eligible to play in future games. Under rules set out by the International Tennis Federation, who runs both the Davis Cup and Olympic competitions. Although players can apply for special exemptions.
Heather Bowler is the director of communications for the ITF. In a recent email exchange with Ubitennis, she stated that her organization intends to make no changes to their Olympic eligibility criteria.
“World rankings have always been used to determine entries to the Olympic Tennis Event. However all International Sports Federations represented at the Games use their global competitions as part of their Olympic Qualification criteria, and the ITF believes that it is appropriate that participants should show a commitment to representing their national team.” Said Bowler.
The Davis Cup finals will get underway on Monday.