How to Fix the Davis Cup

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: December 7, 2012

commentComment        

To understand why the Davis Cup needs to be fixed, we need to understand that it was once a prominent fixture of international competition in sports.

The Davis Cup was born in 1900 when a Harvard student named Dwight Davis bought a trophy bowl made of 217 ounces of sterling silver and lined with gold from Shreve, Crump and Low Company. Davis, who the trophy is named after, invited Great Britain to play against the American team at a tennis club near Harvard. At that time, no other country had enough serious tennis players to warrant an invitation. It is hard to fathom now that Davis was quoted years later as saying, "I sometimes wonder if the Davis Cup was a good thing...it has become too big."

The Davis Cup quickly evolved into a tournament where preliminary rounds determined the winners of the "American zone" and European Zone. The American zone winner would face the European zone winner in the Interzone Finals. The winner of this match would then play the defending champion, which was often Great Britain in the early years.

Nowadays, the tournament is a complete disaster. Ask a sports fan who won the Davis Cup this year and you will either hear, "What is the Davis Cup?" or they will guess a country at random.

The Davis Cup is going nowhere, fast.

In my opinion, the main problem is scheduling. There is no place for the Davis Cup on the current ATP schedule, but they don't want to eliminate it either because it makes money and is historic. Tennis is depriving itself of having the greatest event in sports—something that would be rivaled only by the World Cup—because of the dollars that an ATP tournament would have to give up by taking itself off the calendar.

As a result, one round in the Davis Cup is played. Then there are a couple of months off between rounds. Then, suddenly, one weekend we wake up and the United States is playing Switzerland.

In essence, we are supposed to ge...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!