This November, the Davis Cup will feature a face-off among 18 countries that meet in Madrid, marking the first time in 119 years that the tournament will not conclude in a two-team final on the favorite’s home court.
The new look for the top event in men’s team tennis will condense into two singles matches and one doubles match, with the outcome of each match determined by the best-of-three sets. That’s down from four singles and one doubles match, with the winner determined by the team that won three of the five matches.
The change, which the International Tennis Federation announced in August, aims to lure elite players who have tended to pass on competing for their countries thanks to the demands of their schedules. For example, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have played each other 38 times but never in Davis Cup competition.
“I honestly don’t see it as the end of an era as much as I see it as the end of a chapter of a long book,” David Haggerty, president of the ITF, told the Times.
Some current and former players disagree. “The Davis Cup is dead, and part of the history of our sport is gone for a handful of dollars,” tweeted Nicolas Mahut of France, the third-ranked doubles player in the world
The reformatting comes amid a rivalry in team tennis competition. This January, the men’s tour will launch the ATP Cup in Australia with a 24-team format. The prize money for both cups — $18 million for the Davis Cup and $15 million for the ATP Cup – will be similar. But the ATP Cup also will enable players to compete for points toward their ranking.
In 1900, teams from the U.S and Britain (competing as the British Isles) faced off at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston in the first Davis Cup.
The Americans won the cup that year and again the next in Brooklyn, setting off a rivalry that reversed when Britain won the title at Longwood in 1903. Fast forward to November, when Croatia, led by Marin Cilic, the seventh-ranked player in the world, clinched the title in a 3-1 victory over France.