‘Sad’ Federer hopes new Davis Cup lives up to promises
CINCINNATI: While unsure of the wisdom of this week’s sweeping Davis Cup reform, Roger Federer has called on tennis officials to make good on promises regarding the new-look competition.
“I feel sad about it, you know, not to have the Davis Cup as it used to be. It will never be the same for the next generation,” the 20-time Grand Slam winner said on Saturday at the ATPWTA Cincinnati Masters.
“I just hope that every penny of that mass of money will be paid for the next generation,” Federer said. Kosmos, an investment group led by Barcelona football star Gerard Pique with Japanese and Chinese support, will spend USD 3 billion over 25 years on the new event, which will do away with four rounds at home and away venues around the world throughout the year, culminating with the final between the last two teams standing.
Instead there will be a oneweek shoot-out among 18 nations, to be played in November at rotating venues.
“Clearly the ITF has never historically involved the players,” he said of the decision.
“(The solution) is definitely flawed in some ways.
“I’m all for innovation, and got to give them a chance to some extent. It will be interesting to see how it’s going to work.”
Fellow former number one Novak Djokovic, a member of the 2010 winning Serbia side, shared many of the same Davis Cup sentiments with his Swiss rival but said something had to be done.
“Change was inevitable for the format,” he said, adding that he has supported a format change “15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, and today. So it hasn’t changed.
“I’m really glad that, people of ITF are understanding the urgency of changing the format and the schedule,” he said.
“It was just not right, especially for the top players. In the last 10 years you could see that,” he added.
“Very few top players have played consistently in the Davis Cup competition, which was, till recently, the only team, official team competition we have in our sport.”
FEDERER, DJOKOVIC SET UP FINAL
CINCINNATI: Federer and Novak Djokovic will be fighting for records when the all-star pair clash in Sunday’s final at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.
Federer, a seven-time champion here, will be bidding to increase his tournament leading total, while Djokovic is keen to win the only Masters 1000 tournament missing from his trophy collection.
Second seed Federer was leading 7-6 (7/3), 1-1 when David Goffin retired with an injury from their semi-final match after 62 minutes on Saturday. Djokovic beat 2016 winner Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to earn his place.
HALEP EYES ‘BIG CHANCE’
Women’s world number one Simona Halep is hoping it will be third time lucky in Cincinnati after booking her finals berth with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Aryna Sabalenka.