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Has Davis Cup lost its soul ?

By Myre Aberdan

MALAGA, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 24: Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland plays a backhand during the Semi-Final match against Alex De Minaur of Australia in the Davis Cup Final at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena on November 24, 2023 in Malaga, Spain. (Photo by Francisco Macia/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
MALAGA, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 24: Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland plays a backhand during the Semi-Final match against Alex De Minaur of Australia in the Davis Cup Final at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena on November 24, 2023 in Malaga, Spain. (Photo by Francisco Macia/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) /
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Over the long history of tennis, Davis Cup has been one of the few features of men’s tennis which has kept its passion. However, over the years, the tournament has been placed on life support, after many features of the competition were adulterated. In the last few editions, one obvious change (post 2018) is that the quarter finals onwards are no longer played in neutral venues. Instead, one venue hosts every single nation, and there is no home crowd advantage (or disadvantage) as such. As well, the best -of- 5 format is also no more. Late this year the ‘finals’ of the Davis Cup were held all in one arena- a serious mockery of the previous home-and-away format.

In late 2021, these concerns were only echoed even more when former tennis great Lleyton Hewitt took offence to suggestions of moving the Davis Cup to the Middle East. To add insult to injury, reverse singles matches had also been scrapped to make for shorter match-ups . Previously, the tournament was played during four different weekends across dozens of countries. To boot, the Davis Cup finals held in November also now suffer from a highly impartial and lacklustre fan base. Given the final of these tournaments in previous years was played with a highly partisan crowd for the home crowd- there are rumours from pundits that the energy of the tournament has been lulled due to a lack of a home crowd. Tournament ties are also played all within 1 day.

Davis Cup is now a tournament clearly designed to suit a TV audience, and is far more favourable for broadcasters. However, restricting the Davis Cup to a few countries can be seen to be shrinking the market for tennis, as many fans around the world now are unable to see Davis Cup matches played in their country. One argument from players of the old format was that players would have to switch surfaces so many times in a season, disrupting their rhythm. However, many fans feel that the new Davis Cup format, post 2018, is almost unrecognisable to the olde Davis Cup- and indistinguishable from the post 2020 ATP Cup.

So, all in all, what are your biggest concerns with the current Davis Cup format, and has it lost its soul?

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