DAVIS CUP FINALS LIKELY IN 3 CITIES OVER 11 DAYS

The 2021 Davis Cup Finals will be held across 11 days rather than seven and will almost certainly be staged across three cities, the International Tennis Federation said Monday. This year's event is scheduled for Nov. 25-Dec 5. The ITF confirmed two more European cities are being sought to share the 2021 Finals with Madrid. The 121-year-old men's team event underwent a major revamp in 2019 with the season-long home and away tie format replaced by a soccer World Cup-type format with the top 18 nations battling for the title in Madrid' in November. The 2019 event saw Rafa Nadal lead Spain to victory over Canada in the final. Last year's event was postponed because of the pandemic. A final decision is expected by March. Another change is to have the finals trimmed from 18 to 16 teams in 2022. The reduction would make for a `cleaner' format, with four groups of four and the top two progressing to the quarter-finals.