Spain handed tough draw in Davis Cup Finals
LONDON:Hosts Spain were handed a difficult draw as they were placed in what looks like by far the toughest group for this year’s inaugural Davis Cup Finals at a ceremony in Madrid on Thursday. Sergi Bruguera’s team were drawn in Group B with defending Davis Cup champions Croatia and a Russia side packed with some of the fastest-rising players in the sport.
France, 2018 runners-up, face Serbia and Japan in Group A.
A drastic revamp of the 119year-old team competition will culminate in a week-long event featuring 18 nations at Madrid’s La Caja Magica from Nov. 18-24.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF), which owns the competition, was given the green light to go ahead with the controversial new format at a vote of member nations last year.
Partners Kosmos, a Spanish investment group founded by Barcelona and Spain footballer Gerard Pique, will invest $3 billion into the Davis Cup over 25 years. Of the four other “seeded” teams, Argentina are in Group C with Germany and Chile, Belgium are joined in Group D by Australia and Colombia and Britain head Group E with Kazakhstan and the Netherlands. The United States, who have won more Davis Cup titles than any other nation, play Italy and Canada.
The six group winners and best two runners-up will go forward to the quarter-finals.
Individual ties will consist of two singles matches and one doubles match, all played on one day.