Plans in place to shake up the Davis Cup to create a ‘festival of tennis’

The Davis Cup is set to be transformed into an 18-nation World Cup-style tournament under new proposals put forward by the International Tennis Federation.

It is hoped that the new event for male players, named the World Cup of Tennis Finals, would feature the game’s leading international stars and be played in one location over seven days at the end of each ATP Tour season in late November. It would involve a round-robin stage with the top eight teams moving forward to knock-out rounds.

The proposal has been unanimously endorsed by the ITF board of directors and will be submitted for approval at the annual general meeting in Orlando, Florida in August.

The ITF has announced a 25year partnership with investment group Kosmos to fund the tournament.

The federation says “several world-class cities” have already expressed interest in hosting the event.

ITF president David Haggerty said: “This is a complete game-changer for the ITF and for tennis.

“Our vision is to create a major season-ending finale that will be a festival of tennis and entertainment, featuring the world’s greatest players representing their nations to decide the Davis Cup champions.

“This new partnership will not only create a true World Cup of Tennis, but will also unlock record levels of new investment for future generations of tennis players and fans around the world.”

Matches would consist of two singles rubbers and one doubles, over best-of-three sets as opposed to the best-of-five rubbers format (four singles and one doubles match, each played over five sets).

The event will also feature a play-off round which will allow eight nations to qualify for the following year’s finals.

The zone group competition will continue underneath that.

Currently, the Davis Cup is structured around a 16-nation World Group, contested over four weekends during the year.

The remaining countries are then divided into three regional zones.

Barcelona and Spain footballer Gerard Pique, the founder and president of Kosmos, said: “Kosmos is thrilled to join in this exciting partnership with the ITF.

“Together we can elevate Davis Cup to new heights by putting on a must-see World Cup of Tennis Finals featuring the top nations and top players.”