The ITF is planning a major overhaul of the Davis Cup with the backing of the investment group Kosmos, founded by the soccer star Gerard Piqué. In a 25-year, $3 billion partnership with Kosmos, the Davis Cup World Group would abandon its current format in favor of a seven-day season-ending World Cup of Tennis event, played at a neutral venue with 18 teams. The zone group competition would continue with the current format of home and away ties.
Home and away ties have been the identity of the Davis Cup. The home crowds have created a unique atmosphere for the Davis Cup ties, and those ties have been an opportunity for fans in countries without big tournaments to see their favorites playing important matches against some of the best players in the world.
However, the Davis Cup has been lacking the participation of the big names of the game. Despite the great heritage of the tournament, it has not been among the top priorities of the players. Surface changes, distant locations, scheduling issues, and lack of capable teammates have led to infrequent participation by top players and some former champions. Though rising stars of the game, like Nick Kyrgios and David Goffin, have shown commitment to the Davis Cup as they are still to win the title.
Better scheduling, reinstating ranking points, and even introducing individual prize money could have been solutions to make the Davis Cup more attractive to players without changing the format. Though scheduling and awarding points is up to another organization, the ATP, while a modest prize money might not be enough to attract the biggest stars of the game.
A switch to a single-week, neutral-venue format might help to attract the big names joining their national teams for the event, although the week after the Nitto ATP Finals creates scheduling difficulties. Another thing is if the World Cup of Tennis made the Davis Cup a better event.
If the World Cup format led to a frequent participation of the big names, it could boost the TV ratings. As big as the Davis Cup ties can be in the participating countries, the casual fans around the world want to see the biggest stars of the game.
However, even the greatest participation of star players wouldn't necessarily guarantee seeing them in the final. A France-Belgium final at a neutral venue would hardly interest the casual fans outside those countries any more than last year's final did, except that the neutral venue won't have the passionate fans of the local team.
If the atmosphere reminiscent of soccer matches has made the Davis Cup a unique event in the tennis schedule, you can't expect the same at a neutral venue. Singapore is believed to be the likely host for the first editions of the World Cup format tournaments. It is hard to see legions of fans arriving there from overseas when you can't even know if and when your favorite team is playing after the round robin. It will likely be your typical Asian tennis crowd for the event without the passion of the home crowd that you can expect with the current format.
You can't compare the proposed World Cup of Tennis with the FIFA World Cup. Yes, fans travel even to the other side of the world to cheer for their favorite soccer team. But the FIFA World Cup takes place only every four years, making each edition more special. And the World Cup is the biggest event in soccer, the Davis Cup isn't that in tennis, no matter what format it uses. And soccer is a team sport, tennis is primarily an individual sport.
It would be a pity to lose the current Davis Cup format which is something unique in tennis. I'm not convinced the single-week format would take the public interest in the Davis Cup to a greater level. If anything, the event would lose its best selling point, your national team playing on the home soil.
It's up to the ITF annual general meeting to accept or reject this proposal with a two-thirds majority needed for the overhaul of the Davis Cup. It would surely be hard to reject a 25-year, $3 billion investment into the sport, though André Stein, the president of the Belgian Tennis Federation, has already said he will vote against the proposal and he thinks a lot of the European federations will do the same.
For the sake of tradition and fans, I hope the World Cup proposal gets rejected and the Davis Cup retains its current format. Once the past decade's top players have retired, a new generation will take the attention. And their pursue of the Davis Cup can take the event to a greater level, regardless of the format.
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