Davis Cup final tournament: Thiem, Zverev and Djokovic soon in Austria? - Waiting for the decision of the ITF
Dominic Thiem , Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic could serve at the end of the year as part of the Davis Cup final tournament in Innsbruck, Austria. The Austrian Tennis Association (ÖTV) is currently waiting for a decision from the World Tennis Association (ITF).
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Mar 24, 2021, 01:55 pm
When it became known in January that the ITF would like to entrust two other countries in addition to Madrid to host the early phase of the Davis Cup finals this year, Austria did not hesitate: ÖTV immediately expressed interest and submitted an official application to the ITF a.
Innsbruck is to act as the organizer from November 25th and could be the venue for two groups as well as a quarter-final match. The Olympic Hall, which can hold 8,000 spectators, is available on the corresponding days, and according to information from the Tiroler Tageszeitung , the concept and the approximately five million budget should already be fixed.
London's main competitor
The question remains whether Austria will be awarded the contract by the ITF. That's why you sit on needles at ÖTV. "We expect a decision at the beginning of next week as to whether two of the six groups of three can be played in Innsbruck," said tennisnet.com .
According to consistent media reports, the main competitor is to be London, but ÖTV is not quite sure of that. "We don't know exactly who else has applied," said the red-white-red tennis association. The ITF would keep this a secret, but it is assumed that the decision between Innsbruck and a city in Great Britain - presumably London - will be made. Glasgow should also be under discussion.
Elevation as an advantage for Innsbruck?
In Austria's favor, Innsbruck (574 meters) is at a similar altitude to Madrid (667 meters). Since the two semi-finals and the final will be played in the Spanish capital, the change for the players would not be as great as if they were moving from London (eleven meters) or Glasgow (59 meters).
If Innsbruck wins the bid, Austrian tennis fans - if the corona pandemic allows it - should look forward to world-class tennis. With Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, three absolute world-class players could come to Tyrol.
Davis Cup: Zverev is rethinking
Djokovic and Thiem would probably not miss the final round if they were in good health and Zverev also expressed interest in participating in the Davis Cup after initial skepticism about the new format. In addition to Group F with Serbia, Austria and Germany, Group C with France, Great Britain and the Czech Republic would also take place in Innsbruck.
In Madrid, however, groups A (Spain, Russia and Ecuador) and B (Canada, Kazakhstan and Sweden) will take place. It is not yet clear where groups D (Croatia, Australia and Hungary) and E (USA, Italy and Colombia) will be played. According to information from ÖTV, the favorite is a city in Italy.