Legendary international matches with only home and away matches could celebrate their comeback from 2025.
It should have been the big revolution in tennis and it was a complete failure. In 2018, the investment group Kosmos, founded by soccer star Gerard Piqué, secured the marketing rights to the Davis Cup from the International Tennis Federation ITF. Three billion dollars should be distributed in 25 years. The mode was changed so that only the qualifying round of the World Group and the lower leagues were played in home and away games, the group games and the final tournament in November on neutral ground – like the football finals. But after just five years, Kosmos is out at the end of 2023 and the once prestigious competition has gone to the wall – hardly any top stars, spectators and emotions.
Wawrinka in a duel with Piqué
So it’s hardly surprising that in the current World Group group phase it wasn’t a match but rather a picture that made the biggest headlines. Posted by Stan Wawrinka, addressed to Piqué and ITF with the words “Thank you very much”. The picture showed an empty stadium in Manchester where France and Switzerland were dueling. A public spat between the world champion and the three-time Grand Slam winner followed. Wawrinka, who triumphed against France in the Davis Cup with Roger Federer in front of 27,000 fans at the Lille football stadium in 2014, received a lot of support from fans and colleagues.
Legendary international battles with patterns, Skoff and Co.
Austria can also look back on legendary Davis Cup encounters, especially the games of Thomas Muster, Horst Skoff and Co. against Sweden in 1989 in the Dusika Stadium, against the USA in 1990 in the Happel Stadium and against Germany in 1994 in Unterpremstätten are unforgettable. “That’s unique and what defines the Davis Cup,” says Austria’s record national player Jürgen Melzer, who is clearly in favor of a return to home and away mode. “Perhaps every two years, so that despite the busy tournament calendar the best of the best are there,” says the ÖTV captain, who believes that the Davis Cup will be played again in its original format from 2025. The younger generation also hopes so. The Austrians agreed at the international match in Schwechat: There is nothing better for a tennis professional on the team than playing for his nation in front of a home crowd.
2023-09-16 02:15:42
#Emotions #billions #Davis #Cup #roots
