Jamie Murray commented on the Davis Cup reform in the margins of the 2018 US Open. The member of the ATP Players’ Council hopes for a long-term financing of the cosmos conglomerate and is sure that the majority of players will be attracted by the money.
“It can be sustainable if all the players show up. We now have two brand new events with deviant prize money,” Murray told Sky. In addition to the Davis Cup in tournament mode, there will also be a World Team Cup organized by the ATP.
For Murray it is clear: “Why shouldn’t players participate if they get the chance to earn a lot more money than in any other tournament?”
The ITF will work together with Gerard Piques Kosmos Investment Group, which plans to make around three billion US dollars available over the next 25 years. Each year, around 25 million euros in prize money are to be collected for the Davis Cup.
Murray calculates: “In the new mode, each association will receive around 600,000 US dollars in starting money for its players for promotion in February. The Briton, who was even successful as a doubles player on the tour, expects an amount of around 200,000 US dollars for the two top single players, with the remaining sum going to the other team members.
“Will there be a Novak Djokovic or a Roger Federer? I’m not so sure because they’re not really dependent on it,” Murray said. “But the remaining 95 percent of the players will think,’This is a great way to make good money.”
Originally a date was planned for the new Davis Cup after the ATP Finals in November, but Pique and Kosmos want to get a slot in September. “The tournaments won’t be happy, which I fully understand,” Murray said.
With the earlier date the Davis Cup would compete with the Laver Cup and other ATP tournaments. Pique and Federer have already had an exchange of blows via the media.