The tournament director of the Davis Cup finals has said there is a possibility that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) could partner up with the ATP in the future to create one team event.
Albert Costa believes all cards are on the table concerning the future of the Davis Cup amid a disagreement between the two governing bodies of the sport. From next year the ITF will turn the Davis Cup finals into a week-long 18-team event that will be held in Madrid. The plans were approved in August following an ITF AGM meeting and has financial backing from investment firm Kosmos. A company founded by Barcelona F.C. footballer Gerard Pique. Meanwhile, the ATP is going ahead with their own plans to bring back the world team cup from 2020 onwards.
“The big organisations are in contact about doing something together in the future, with men’s and women’s teams. It would still be the Davis Cup, with the ATP’s participation, perhaps even with ranking points,” Costa told Reuters.
“It would still be the Davis Cup, but the ATP could be involved too. Why not? The idea is there.”
Between 2019-2020, only six weeks will separate the two team events. The Davis Cup finals will take place in November following by the World Team Cup in January. Some fear that the re-launch of the ATP event threatens the future of the Davis Cup due to its ability to offer players ranking points, as well as a prize money pool of $15 million.
Last week during a special presentation to launch the World Team Cup in London, ATP chief Chris Kermode dismissed claims that the new event is a threat to the 118-year-old team tournament.
“There seems to be a fixation that the ATP Cup has caused the issue with the Davis Cup and this is not the case.” He said. “If the ATP Cup didn’t exist, the Davis Cup still wouldn’t have a week in the calendar. “
“We are open to ideas, and have thrown out some ideas and they will be discussed. I’m really confident down the line we will find a resolution.”
Divide in opinions
In recent weeks there has been mixed opinions about the prospect of two team events being able to survive on the tour. World No.5 Alexander Zverev has ruled him out of next year’s ATP Finals due to its ‘crazy’ scheduling. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are yet to commit to the event.
“From what I’ve heard from conversations with people from all of the sides, different sides in this sport, they all want to have one event because it’s over-saturated with different cups, different events.” Djokovic recently commented about the team competitions.
In contrast, Craig Tiley, who is the head of Tennis Australia, believes the sport can cope with multiple team events taking place throughout the year. Tennis Australia is a main backer of the World Team Cup. Tiley is also involved with the Laver Cup, which was launched in 2017.
“Growing the platform and economics of our sport is on us. We know from a fan’s view that they love team events.” Said Tiley.
“I believe (having three team events) is sustainable. We will make sure in 2020 that we will run a great event and the same with the Davis Cup.“
Can it work?
One criticism of the Davis Cup has been the time of year it would take place. Some players have expressed concerns that it eats into already what is a limited off-season period. The 2019 ATP Calendar features 63 tournaments and takes place over 11 months. ATP Finals champion Zverev has recently called for the calendar to be reduced in length. Despite the concerns, former world No.6 Costa has said the new format makes it ‘easier for players.’
The date is the same as now so we’ve changed nothing there but we’ve changed a lot to make it easier for players. They won’t be as tired because they will have two more free weeks. The calendar is much lighter now,” he said.
“When I was a player and a captain people kept asking for changes but nothing changed. Then Gerard Pique came up with a fantastic idea, which will make the competition as exciting as before and mean we will have a similar atmosphere.
“It will be very attractive for spectators, for TV too. Croatia and France are very excited about the final, but are people in India excited about it? When you have all the countries in one place it will have much more impact.”
The Davis Cup finals will take place next year between November 18-24. Meanwhile, the inaugural World Team Cup will get underway during the first week of January in 2020.
