Dirk Hordorff, Vice President of the German Tennis Federation, advocates a renaming of the Davis Cup and Fed Cup team competitions. “Davis Cup and Fed Cup are world championships. You have to call it that. Then interest will also grow,” said Hordorff of Sport-Bild (Wednesday edition).
Next weekend, the German women will compete against the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup semi-finals in Stuttgart. A few days ago, the German men were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup by a close 2:3 in Spain.
Above all, a possible reform of the Davis Cup has recently caused a lot of excitement and criticism. The International Federation of Tennis Federation (ITF) is in favour of a radical proposal: instead of four match days spread over the year, the ITF wants to hold a so-called “World Cup of Tennis” with the best 18 nations starting in 2019. This is to be held at a fixed location within a week in November.
For years, the Davis Cup has suffered from the cancellations of numerous top players. In the tight schedule of the ATP tour, there was hardly any room for the national duels, and many players were also bothered by the mode with three winning sets on the surfaces chosen by the hosts.