The Davis Cup faces the sixth year since its facelift under a new format promoted by Gerard Piqué and that has almost clearly turned out to be a failure for the historic tennis tournament. Protected by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the former footballer, through his defunct company, Kosmos Tenniscreated a new image for a competition that has gone from being the most prominent in terms of fans and atmosphere to not filling the stands of its new venues and not even attracting the best players in the world. Carlos Alcaraz It is an exception in the first division within a Davis that either looks for solutions or may be led to an irreconcilable situation.
After the first two days of the Group Phaseit is confirmed that assistance does not comply with the predictions of the organizers, not even in Valenciawhere the atmosphere is usually outstanding. The Saint Louis Fountainwhich is expected to be full from Friday, had to settle for around 60% attendance in Spain’s debut duel against the Czech Republicdespite the presence of Carlos Alcaraza theoretical claim in itself.
As far as the players are concerned, failure is also notorious, although with an asterisk. Alcaraz He is the only top-15 tennis player present in the Davis Cup 2024 Group Stagealthough it must be considered that Novak Djokovic will play this weekend in a qualifying match with second division Serbia. Sinner, Zverev, Fritz either Tommy Paul Yes, they are absent with their respective countries immersed in the fight for Salad bowlwith a gap in the calendar in which the hangover of US Open makes assistance in full conditions very complicated.
In general, criticism of the new format of the Davis Cup have become a constant since the novelty was installed in the 2019 edition, with a fixed headquarters in Madrid that ended with the Spanish team as champion and Rafa Nadal and Roberto Bautista as heroes. Spain has become, indisputably, the great beneficiary, with home status from the first year in all the phases it has played, now with Valencia -group phase- and Malaga -Final 8- as venues, but the fans of the rest of the countries suffer the consequences of the idyllic thinking of Gerard Piqué to create a tennis world cup which is confirmed as a failure and forces changes to be made in future planning.
Already with Cosmos outside the organization Davis Cupafter breaking the agreement with the ITFthe competition continues to suffer the consequences of the legacy left by the company of Pique, while the latest news, instead of correcting certain aspects, only adds fuel to the fire with doubts and criticisms about the tournament.
In 2024, a venue like Zhuhaiin Chinawithout the host country as a participant and with all countries thousands of kilometers from the scene of the matches. The result is an image in the stands that is very far from the full capacity desired by the International Tennis Federation for your star event. In Bologna, Manchester and Valencia, although the image is noticeably better, the crowd attendance predictions are not met either, even less so on the days when Italy, Great Britain and Spain have a qualifying round. Davis Cup.
Alcaraz, the ‘only’ star of the Davis Cup
After his absence in 2023, due to fatigue accumulated until the US Open, Carlos Alcaraz returns in 2024 to the Davis Cup in the Group Stage, with some rest due to their premature defeat this year in New York. The Murcian tennis player has made an effort that players of his stature have not been able or willing to do, prioritizing his physique and focusing on upcoming commitments in the ATP calendarabout a Davis Cup that does not contribute points to the ranking.
The US Open champion, Jannik Sinnerrejected the captain’s call Davis Cup from Italy, while the finalist, Taylor Fritzdid the same with the United States. Neither are Jack Draper and Frances Tiafoesemi-finalists, nor Alexander Zverevbrand new number two in the ATP ranking. All of them have their countries in the first division of competition in Davis, but they decide to reserve themselves for a Final 8 to which they risk their country not qualifying.
