Davis Cup: Why It Needs a New Format

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 9, 2012

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The Davis Cup Final next week is an enticing prospect if you’re a Spanish or Czech tennis fan. If you’re British, too, you might be forgiven for throwing the 100th final a sideways glance on the basis that it’s being held at London’s O2 Arena from 16th to 18th November. Except it’s not. It’s being held in Prague’s O2 Arena. Close, but no cigar for the Brits.

But for tennis fans everywhere, the Davis Cup Final is the last throw of the dice as we head into the Mad Max afterworld of the offseason. This is when the wind and rain whip wickedly across the barren courts of the Northern Hemisphere and we sustain our tennis dreams with the player biographies that tumble from Santa’s sack.

The Davis Cup Final will be a nicely presented, lightly whipped tiramisu after the comfort food of the World Tour Finals (WTF).

Big Four

If only everyone felt the same way. Because, for the past few seasons, getting the Big Four players—Federer, Djokovic, Murray, and Nadal—to join this party has been about as easy as securing a Greek bridging loan.

So, what are the issues? Oh, nothing much. Just the fact that playing Davis Cup means taking up to four long weekends a year out of a playing schedule already as full as a fat lady’s sock. Top players are all about peaking for the four slams, and Davis Cup is about as compatible with that as a KFC Party Bucket diet.

But, to my mind, the problems with Davis Cup are more fundamental. For example: which other major sporting event do you know of that builds to an anti-climax? Can you imagine 50,000 paying spectators on the last day of the Ryder Cup watching dead rubbers?



Let’s say Spain wins both singles this Friday, then wraps up the doubles on Saturday. Now, imagine you’re Juan Garcia, a good-natured IT professional from Madrid who plays a decent club game on weekends. You’...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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