World number two, Novak Djokovic is looking to be the spark that the ITF and ATP needs to talk about the new reformed Davis Cup.
The Serb recently met with Kosmos founder and Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, about the new Davis Cup reforms and what needs to be done for the ITF to be on the same page as the ATP World Tour.
As it stands, next year’s Davis Cup world group would be a one week event in November, with 18 nations competing in it. However the problem is that the competition starts one day after the ATP World Tour finals and only gives the players a month break before the ATP Team World Cup in 2020.
This is a problem that the ATP and ITF needs to address but they don’t seem to be transparently communicating which is a bigger issues. It’s an issue that Novak Djokovic is looking to address and explained that talks went well with the Kosmos founder, “The meeting with Gerard went really well. Again, we are very honest to each other,” said Djokovic.
“Ever since the beginning of the whole process, he was quite honest and shared his opinion transparently with me, never was hiding anything, and same from my side.”
The Serb further explained that as the President of the ATP Council, he wants to lead the conversation between the ATP and the ITF, “Me, as president of player council, I feel responsibility, as well, to represent what’s best for the ATP players but also for the sport,” the 14 time grand slam champion said.
“So, you know, Davis Cup is historical, a traditional team competition with historical importance. Of course all of us, we want to try to work this out in the best possible way so we don’t need to change the course of the history.”
Only time will tell whether the outcome of these talks has a positive effect on Tennis or a negative one but it’s good at this early stage that the ITF and the ATP are beginning to communicate about the future.
