Controversial Davis Cup Final Tournament: "Majesty Insult" or "Great Tennis Show"
The radical reform of the Davis Cup divided the tennis world, the criticism was great. On Monday, the final tournament starts in Madrid, and many are now open to the new format.
by SID
last edit: Nov 18, 2019, 01:23 pm
The partly violent criticism of Alexander Zverev or Roger Federer will not join Boris Becker. Germany's tennis icon prefers diplomacy when it comes to the radically changed Davis Cup. "I give every idea a chance and I can only cheer or criticize that afterwards", said Becker in view of the premiere of the final tournament in Madrid: "We should all calm down and wait and see what happens."
Not only Becker looks from Monday (until 24 November) eagerly to the events in the Spanish capital. Since the ITF adopted the restructuring of the Davis Cup in August 2018, discussions have not stopped: some see the reform as the death of traditional competition and others as the necessary step towards a better future. Also Becker had initially reacted with disappointment and criticism to the innovation.
One thing is for sure: there will be no more Davis Cup star-studios, as Becker and Co. experienced at the "Battle of Hartford" in 1987 or the "Wonder of Gothenburg" a year later. The atmospheric home and away games are only available in the qualification, partly legendary five-sentence thriller completely belong to the past. Instead of four rounds spread over the calendar year, 18 nations will fight for the "ugliest salad bowl in the world" in the one-week final tournament.
The German team starts on Wednesday, in Group C it is against Argentina and Chile - but without his best player. Alexander Zverev had become the spokesman for the critics and categorically excluded a participation in the final tournament. The late date in November was "crazy," Zverev said he was "100 percent against the system" and even hope "a little bit that it goes wrong."
Becker's former manager, Ion Tiriac, became even more vocal: he called the reform a "lamentation of majesty" in a conversation with tennis magazine and complained that the ITF was "ruining 120 years of tradition - just for money." Grand Slam record winner Roger Federer also hit Zverev's side, albeit with less pithy words.
Meanwhile, many are at least open to the reform. Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia believes after initial skepticism that the tournament "should be exciting", the Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal said only: "You have to try it to have a correct opinion."
Six top-10 players have confirmed their participation in Madrid - while Federer (Switzerland), Dominic Thiem (Austria) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) are not qualified with their nations, only the world ranking seventh Zverev renounced entirely free pieces.
Gerard Pique is particularly pleased about the lively participation of the top players. The football professional of FC Barcelona leads the investment company Kosmos, which had acquired the rights to the Davis Cup for allegedly $ 3 billion last year. Now Pique expects a "great tennis show that people will enjoy". Becker believes this is possible: "Maybe we are smarter on a Sunday in a week and say: That was the best event in the Davis Cup."