Davis Cup: How should things continue from 2024?
Before the first round matches in the world group in the Davis Cup, officially called "Qualifiers", start, there are different opinions about how the most traditional team competition in tennis should continue.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Feb 03, 2023, 07:34 am
By Jens Huiber from Trier
The spontaneous vote that the German national team took at the press conference before the start of the Davis Cup comparison with Switzerland in Trier brought a result that would have brought tears of joy to the eyes of any would-be dictator with a halfway North Korean education. Five men in the best tennis age raised their hands, there were no dissenting voices. Namely, on the proposal to return to the Davis Cup best-of-five format.
That would be clarified from a German point of view, Alexander Zverev would prefer to play like he did in 2018 anyway. The - ultimately unsuccessful - business trip to Valencia is still well remembered by the German number one. Do you generally return to the status of the last season, in which the Davis Cup was decided with a home or away game (Croatia won the final in France at the time) and not with a final tournament? Zverev's short answer: "Yes."
Germany wins 1988 title a week before Christmas
Of course it's not quite that simple. Especially since many questions arise after the rift between the ITF and the Kosmos Group. For the current season, the official program booklet in Trier notes a fixed date from September 11th to 16th, in which 16 teams, as in the previous year, at four different locations (in 2022 these were Hamburg, Bologna, Glasgow and Valencia) determine the eight quarter-finalists. The finals are scheduled for the week of November 21-26, 2023.
That may seem very late in the year. However, when Germany won the pot for the first time in Gothenburg in 1988, the game was played in Scandinavia from December 16th to 18th. But best of five. And with a real home advantage over three days for the Swedes.
Davis Cup stretched over two years?
The finale will probably not be that close to Christmas. But maybe the Davis Cup could also be played over a period of two years, as DTB captain Michael Kohlmann noted. That would give the associations sufficient opportunities to take care of the venues.
But of course this solution also carries the risk that a nation may not play a Davis Cup at all for a year. If you see the enthusiasm with which Zverev and Co. go to the meeting with Switzerland, this solution is difficult to imagine.
Kohlmann also noted one thing: Every idea that now connects the ITF with the Davis Cup should urgently be discussed with the players.