118-year-old Davis Cup faces vote on proposed overhaul

A new Davis Cup format that tennis’ governing body believes is more enticing for players and more lucrative for nations will be voted on this week.

The proposal to overhaul the current format of the 118-year-old event is being discussed at the International Tennis Federation conference in Orlando, Fla., with the vote set for Thursday.

If approved, 18 nations would compete in a weeklong final at the end of the year. The current proposal calls for 24 teams to play home-or-away matches in February, with the 12 winners moving to the final. They would be joined there by the four semifinalists from the year before, and by two wild-card teams.

Karolina Pliskova ended a seven-match losing streak against Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Nick Kyrgios fought off qualifier Denis Kudla with a 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (9) victory.

Australian Open semifinalist Hyeon Chung won the last five games to beat Jack Sock 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Sock has lost eight straight matches since winning in Rome on May 13.

On the women’s side, Elise Mertens scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over Magdalena Rybarikova. Ashleigh Barty stopped wild-card Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 7-5. Maria Sakkari upset Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka 6-3, 7-6 (8).

Former U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka and former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka have received wild cards for this year’s final Grand Slam tournament. Svetlana Kuznetsova, another U.S. Open champion, also was given a wild card. Wawrinka did not defend his 2016 title, pulling out of the 2017 tournament because of a knee injury that has dropped his ranking from No. 3 to No. 151. The tournament begins Aug. 27.