ITF aims to overhaul Fed Cup competition

LONDON: Fed Cup prize money will double to $7.5 million next year as the International Tennis Federation (ITF) looks into how to change the format of the women’s team competition after already overhauling the men’s Davis Cup.

The ITF announced on Friday that it intends to set up a 16-team, one-site Fed Cup tournament, similar to the new Davis Cup setup which was approved last week.

Already new for 2019 in the Fed Cup: adding third-set tiebreakers and allowing teams to carry five players instead of four. The total Fed Cup prize money this year is $3.7 million.

FRENCH OPEN FORBIDS SERENA’S CATSUIT

PARIS: United States’ former world No 1 Serena Williams will no longer be allowed to wear her skin-tight black catsuit at the French Open.

The French Tennis Federation president, Bernard Giudicelli, says the tournament that Williams has won three times is introducing a dress code to regulate players’ uniforms because “I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far.”

In an interview in Tennis Magazine’s 500th edition, Giudicelli singled out the figure-hugging black suit that Williams wore this year at Roland Garros and said made her feel like a superhero.

The 60-year-old Giudicelli said, “It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place.”

He said Roland Garros’ new rules won’t be as strict as Wimbledon’s, which require that players wear white, but will “impose certain limits.”

Many player uniforms for 2019 have already been designed but Giudicelli said the FFT will be asking manufacturers for an advance look at them.