The format of the Davis Cup is on course for a significant change following recent comments made by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty.
The proposals are nothing new from Haggerty. During his campaign for the ITF presidential position last year, the American stated that changing the format of the Davis Cup was ‘one of his top priorities’. During an interview with Inside The Games last August, Haggerty spoke about why he feels that now it’s the right time to change the format.
“We have to have some conversations on the calendar with the players and the ATP and the WTA and work in collaboration to make this a much bigger property than it is today”. He said about the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.
Currently the Davis Cup format consists of the top 16 countries in the world participating in a series of rounds throughout the year. One of the controversial propositions from Haggerty is a ‘final four’ format. This means that the semi-finals and final of the event will be played within the same week. Currently the semi-finals are played in September followed by the final in November.
“What would be very interesting for me is a final four concept”. Haggerty said.
“We would be able to plan in advance where that is. We could have the semifinals in the first three days, a day of rest and then three days for the final.”
Another radical proposal is for the draw to be reduced from 16 to 15 in order to give a first round bye to the defending champions. This year defending champions Switzerland lost in the first round to Belgium. The Swiss team was significantly weakened by the absence of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka. Regarding the first round bye idea, Haggerty told ITF Magazine that it is backed by players.
“The players I have talked to have been very positive about that idea and I think it would cause them to play a little more than they do right now”. He said.
There is yet to be any formal confirmation of any changes and this year’s Davis Cup will still be played under the current format.
