TENNIS is planning a Davis Cup revolution in a £2billion revamp backed by Barcelona star Gerard Pique.
From as soon as next year, the plan is to stage a one-week, 18-nation World Cup of Tennis Finals at the end of the season to decide the winners of the famous trophy lifted by Andy Murray and Great Britain in 2015.
The International Tennis Federation stunned the sport by announcing proposals for a 25-year partnership worth more than £2billion with Kosmos, the investment company founded and fronted by Barca defender Pique.
Kosmos is backed by Hiroshi Mikitani, boss of Rakuten, the Tokyo-based e-commerce company which is Barcelona’s shirt sponsor.
Pique said: ““Kosmos is thrilled to join in this exciting partnership with the ITF. Together we can elevate Davis Cup by BNP Paribas to new heights by putting on a must-see World Cup of Tennis Finals featuring the top nations and top players.”
The Davis Cup has been crying out for years for change, with the best male players in the world like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal often refusing to play because of its demanding format.
At present the 16 nations in the elite World Group have to battle their way through four ties to win it, with each tie featuring up to five, best of five-set rubbers (four singles and one doubles) played across three days.
Only last year the ITF failed to push through significant reforms and the Davis Cup seemed destined to be weakened still further.
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Pique even held talks with the men’s tour ATP organisation about setting up a World Cup to rival the Davis Cup.
But now he and Kosmos have teamed up with the ITF instead to deliver a genuine revolution.
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The proposal is for the 16 World Group nations to be joined by two other countries for a week-long event staged in November in the slot normally occupied by the Davis Cup Final.
Matches will decided by two singles and one doubles match, each played in a best-of-three set format.
After a round-robin stage, there will be knockout quarter-finals and so on.
The World Cup of Tennis would be staged in a single location, with a number of cities already said to be interested in bidding for a potential 2019 event.
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The format of the Davis Cup for the lower tiers of the competition would remain the same, with countries competing in regional zones across a number of ties per year in a bid to qualify for the new season-ending showpiece.
But first ITF chiefs must persuade the member nations that the changes are in everyone’s interest.
They will need a two-third majority at the AGM in Orlando in August to give the stunning plans the green light.
Dan King, Sunsport's Tennis Correspondent, gives his view on the revamp
Imagine Argentina, Portugal and Brazil qualified for football’s World Cup, but Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar didn’t turn up.
That’s the grim reality the Davis Cup has faced in recent years, with big names like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal picking and choosing when to play. And mostly choosing not to.
One of the oldest sporting events in the world has been hobbled by its very traditions. Male players who want to win big titles and big money as individuals just aren’t going to commit to up to four weeks of extra tennis per year in an already crowded calendar.
Traditionalists will probably fight against the loss of the traditional format, and it some ways it will be sad to see it go.
For atmosphere and emotion, there is nothing in tennis – and very little in sport – which beats the home-and-away tie format and gladiators slugging it out over five sets in front of partisan crowds.
But like everything else, tennis has to move with the times. The Davis Cup styles itself as the World Cup of Tennis, but it’s false advertising if the best players in the world don’t take part.
The revolutionary plans backed by Barcelona star and tennis fan Gerard Pique could be the kick in the balls the competition and the sport needed.
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