Two key stakeholders of the revamped Davis Cup have both voiced their backing to an even more ambitious project that will include women’s tennis as well.
ITF president David Haggerty and Kosmos founder Gerard Pique are hoping that they will be able to one day combine the Davis Cup and Fed Cup so that both tournaments coincide with each other. Something that has never been done in the history of the sport. At present the Davis Cup finals take place at the end of the season in November and the Fed Cup equivalent is held in April. From 2020 both events will have the same structure.
“We recently announced, the Fed Cup finals will be in Budapest for the next three years beginning in April 2020. Long-term, it would make a lot of sense to have a combined competition, our Davis Cup and our Fed Cup kind of the World Cup of Tennis together.” Haggerty told reporters on Sunday.
“But I think we take things step by step because it takes a lot of stakeholders to make a change like that. But it could be great for the game.”
Whilst the idea of a super cup sounds like a logical idea, in reality it is much harder for such a plan to come to life. The tennis calendar is already crammed and having a two-week event at the end of the year would eat into player’s off-season rest period. Something that would not go down too well. The ITF and ATP have previously held discussions about moving the Davis Cup finals, but failed to come to an agreement.
Pique, whose company will $3 billion into the Davis Cup over 25 years, has voiced his desire to one day also inject financial support into the Fed Cup. Saying his company has shown interest from ‘day one.’ However, his immediate focus is on the men’s event.
“Since day one, I think we showed interest to the ITF. What we said to them is obviously we wanted to go step by step. And Davis Cup on itself, it was a big, big project. We don’t want to try to do too much because then you don’t do things right.” He said.
“So for us now, we are fully focused on trying to year-by-year, make this competition and this event even better and bigger. And in three years, let’s see where we are.”
New leadership, new deal?
The hopes of both Pique and Haggerty is that they will be able to strike a new agreement with the man who replaces Chris Kermode as the head of the ATP. Andrea Gaudenzi, who is a former top 20 player from Italy, will take the position next year. Gaudenzi played 33 matches in the Davis Cup between 1994-2000.
It is the ATP’s rival team event that is causing the deadlock between the two governing bodies. The ATP Cup will start in January with both ranking points and prize money up for grabs.
“In tennis one of the biggest challenges we face as a sport is the calendar. And the ITF and Kosmos have always said that we are very open to have conversations, and we will with the ATP, there’s new leadership, to talk about the calendar.” Haggerty stated.
Barcelona centre-back Pique is also optimistic that a deal can be organised where the Davis Cup and ATP Cup could one day be merged into one. Something that has been publicly back by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Although if that were to happen, it is unclear as to how the Fed Cup could also factor in.
“I think it’s the best for tennis. It makes no sense to have right now two different competitions that are very similar. And this is the way we are going. We are very happy that in the next few months I think we will start talking again with the ATP. And I hope in the next few months we can announce something.”
The problems
Whilst big plans have been laid out for the future, there are more pressing concerns that need attention sooner. The week-long Davis Cup finals wasn’t without it’s blips. The most noticeable being one of the group ties going on until four in the morning. The last match to be played was the second latest-finishing match in the history of the sport.
Options are now on the table about what to do about this issue for 2020. One of which involves the possibility of building a fourth court.
“To build a fourth court to try to solve the problem with the issue about the times, and if it’s in WiZink Center here in Madrid or maybe to build a fourth court here in La Caja Mágica.” Pique commented.
“Both options are right now are on the table. We will ask the players, at the end of the day, the opinion of the players are the most, that matters for us, to see what they want, what they prefer.”
Another topic was the crowd. With the exception of the home nation, there was certain ties that had low attendance compared to that of the old format. Highlighting one of the negatives to hosting such a big multi-national event in one city. However, Pique has an alternative theory.
“I think that a lot of people didn’t know what to expect or they didn’t know how the format will go. So there were a lot of people that were waiting to see what will happen and then decide for next year.”
Elaborating further, Haggerty acknowledges that not everything is perfect.
“We’re going to listen to all the stakeholders. We feel that it’s a fantastic start, a great foundation, but there are always improvements, as Gerard said, that we will make.” He concluded.
