Crunch Vote for Tennis Reforms

(ATR) Tennis federation leaders gathered in Florida are preparing to vote on Davis Cup reforms in one of the sport’s biggest shake-ups for years.

International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty is behind controversial plans to revamp the 118-year-old competition which have drawn fierce criticism from some corners of the tennis world.

The ITF’s Davis Cup overhaul, backed by the board of directors in February, includes a new annual season-ending World Cup of Tennis Finals featuring 18 nations that will crown the Davis Cup champions. It would replace the existing format of four weekends of home and away Davis Cup ties. The aim is to hold the first week-long event in November 2019.

The plan is part of a 25-year, $3 billion partnership with investment group Kosmos, which is founded by Barcelona and Spain international footballer Gerard Pique. The group is backed by Hiroshi Mikitani, chairman and CEO of Rakuten, the Tokyo-based e-commerce company.

Haggerty has branded the Davis Cup facelift as "a complete game-changer for the ITF and for tennis", saying it would generate substantial revenues for global tennis development. At SportAccord in Bangkok in April, he admitted to reporters that "change is difficult".

He told a media roundtable the revamp would benefit players and nations, partly by fulfilling the needs for Olympic qualification, offering significant increases in prize money and funding grassroots projects and other tennis development programs.

By staging the "major season-ending finale" in an iconic city "allows predictability and excites sponsors", he added.

The plans are the biggest item on the agenda at the ITF’s general assembly in Orlando. The vote is on Thursday with a two-thirds majority required to green-light the initiative.

The South American Tennis Confederation (COSAT) made public its support for the reforms hours before the ITF’s annual meetings got underway. "We are absolutely sure that this change is necessary. It is a historic moment for tennis," said Camilo Pérez López Moreira, president of COSAT.

"Not to make this change to the Davis Cup, which is a competition that we all love, runs the risk of losing more and more interest, and even its disappearance in the future," said the president of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee who was last month nominated for IOC membership.

Players’ Reactions

The proposals have received mixed feedback from some of the tennis greats.

While 13-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have expressed vocal support for the changes, others including Lleyton Hewitt of Australia have slated the proposals, suggesting it will signal the death knell for the Davis Cup.

Hewitt has called it a "money grab" while Yannick Noah, who captained France to its Davis Cup win in 2017, described it on social media as "the end of the Davis Cup. They sold the soul of a historic competition".

German Tennis Federation chief Dirk Hordorff said his federation wasn’t properly consulted about the new concept and didn’t agree to the changes.

"The damage the ITF brings to their own event, to the sponsors of the Davis Cup, to the most important group, the players, can`t be bigger than they are doing," Hordorff wrote in a Facebook post.

Haggerty responded to some of his critics at SportAccord, telling reporters that his mandate was "to bring certainty and stability to the ITF... new projects and new ways".

ATP Clash

The ITF’s plans have also come under fire from the ATP, which has decided to bring back its World Team Cup tournament starting in the 2020 season. The tournament, to be held in January in partnership with Tennis Australia, will feature 24 teams and offer $15 million in player prize money in 2020 as well as ATP ranking points.

Chris Kermode, ATP executive chairman and president, said in May that staging both tournaments within six weeks of each other would be "insane".

Speaking about the World Team Cup, he said: "We believe this outcome will deliver long-term sustainability not only financially but also from a player health perspective, which is critical. This event has huge potential and we now look forward to working together with Tennis Australia in bringing our vision to fruition."

The two sides had been in talks to avoid having two tournaments so close together but no agreement was reached ahead of the ATP launching its own flagship competition.

Last month, the ITF criticized the ATP’s move, saying it "was an opportunity missed by the ATP to work together with the ITF in a beneficial and positive way for the whole of tennis" .

ITF president Haggerty will on Tuesday formally open the ITF Conference which precedes the federation’s AGM. Today’s items including an overview of the ITF board’s proposed governance reforms – a cornerstone of its ITF2024 mission statement.

"We are committed to delivering tennis for future generations, and this year’s proposed reforms, including the introduction of a transformative Davis Cup Finals event, are key to ensuring that the ITF and its member nations will guarantee a bright future for the sport," he said in a statement.

Homepage photo: ITF

Reported by Mark Bisson

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