Night shift, low spirits, empty seats: The Davis Cup has a lot of room for improvement
Much has been criticized the new Davis Cup final tournament before its premiere. And after a few days in Madrid, there is a need for improvement.
by SID
last edit: Nov 22, 2019, 02:20 pm
Gerard Pique had his mouth full. "I want the Davis Cup to become a party all about tennis," said the football star, who has taken over and radically reformed the traditional team competition with his investment firm Kosmos. Players, fans, just everyone involved should have "the best week of their lives," says Pique. The tournament is still a long way from this wishful thinking.
Already after the first days of the premiere in Madrid it becomes clear that there is an urgent need for improvement. Matches until late into the night, lots of empty stadiums and little atmosphere - this new Davis Cup is not outgrown yet.
"You have 18 teams and are trying to squeeze everything into three places in a week," said second-placed Novak Djokovic after the quarter-finals with Serbia, summing up one of the main problems of the new format. This abundance of matches did indeed cause difficulties.
The US team made about the ultimately insignificant victory in the group match against Italy only at 4.04 clock at night perfect. "I do not remember where we are, what time we have, which day is," US captain Mardy Fish said afterwards. Also, Spain's number one Rafael Nadal criticized the game planning fiercely after the hosts had finished their opening game against Russia at 1:49 clock at night.
Organizers react a bit
"This is causing great difficulties - for the players and at the same time for the fans who come to the stadium," said the world number one, after all, the latter would have to go back to work the next morning. The organizers responded and postponed on Thursday the starting times of the remaining matches in the morning and in the evening in each case by half an hour to the front.
Of course, not everything went well in the old format, the top players were often absent, and some games were under international radar - an urgent need for reform. If it goes to Djokovic, but this is not yet completed.
"Maybe you can do an elite tournament with eight instead of 18 teams," said the Wimbledon champion, suggesting that he run qualifying tournaments "in various locations around the world." This would give at least more teams the chance of atmospheric home games that had made the old Davis Cup.
Only in Spain games the hut is full
Because many places in the Madrid sports complex Caja Magica remained empty on the first days, only the hosts played full house. The large South American community in Spain also provided some of the usual Davis Cup atmosphere - but like many other nations in Madrid, the German team can only dream of it.
"We as a German team can not create this interactive feeling with the fans because only a few people came from Germany," said veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber. It's "too bad that a few ranks are empty," said teammate Jan-Lennard Struff.
But there was also praise for the organizers. The conditions for the players are top, stressed Struff. "The system is very good," said the German number one, "the whole thing is well solved." For the "best week of life", the organizers around Pique but still have to improve in other places.