The reformed Davis Cup of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will be faced with top-class competition from another team event starting in 2020. On Thursday, the Association of Professional Players presented its plans for the ATP Cup, which will take place six weeks after the Davis Cup Final premiere in Australia and was announced as a “major” reissue of the World Team Cup previously held in Düsseldorf.
In three cities on the fifth continent, which are not yet known, 24 nations play for the title. In group matches with four teams each and a subsequent final round, two singles and one doubles will be played per match.
The tournament, which takes place in the run-up to the Australian Open in Melbourne, lasts ten days and is endowed with 15 million dollars in prize money. Players can also earn up to 750 world ranking points.
It was only in September that the ITF adopted the Davis Cup reform. At the end of November 2019, a final tournament for 18 teams will be held for the first time in Madrid. However, the date has already caused strong criticism, not only Germany’s top player Alexander Zverev has categorically excluded his participation.
Unlike the Davis Cup, the ATP Cup has the support of the players. “It’s the best way to start the season,” said world number one Novak Djokovic (Serbia). Zverev considers the tournament “a good way to maintain team tennis competitions”. Roger Federer (Switzerland) and the American number one John Isner also expressed their support for the new format.
ATP President Chris Kermode said during the presentation at the ATP Final in London: “We had the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf for 35 years. Now we bring him back, but much bigger, and the players are 100 percent behind.” From 1978 to 2012, the ATP held a team competition at the Düsseldorf Rochusclub before the French Open in May.
The ITF and the Kosmos investment group, whose face is Spain’s football star Gerard Pique, have long been looking for another date, but the ATP doesn’t seem to be ready to clear space in their schedule. Even Federer, initiator of the Laver Cup in September, should not be willing to give up the week in which the duel between Europe and the rest of the tennis world takes place.