Davis Cup organisers hoping for a magic start in Madrid

MADRID: Eighteeen nations will gather in Madrid’s La Caja Magica on Monday as the men’s tennis season culminates with a revamped Davis Cup format dreamt up by a man who earns his living playing soccer for Barcelona.

The week-long soccer World Cup-style Davis Cup Finals will be the biggest shake-up the 119year-old team event has ever had and is being bankrolled by Barca defender Gerard Pique’s investment firm Kosmos to the tune of $3 billion over 25 years.

It has not been smooth sailing for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) since it announced the radical revamp with some accusing the organisation of selling the soul of a competition loved by tennis diehards, but which had slowly lost its lustre.

There is also the small matter of the ATP Cup—seen as a rival competition—launching in January. As for any large sporting event the key ingredient will be the quality of the entertainment and the atmosphere.

Nineteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will lead the Spanish team, while Novak Djokovic will play for Serbia, Andy Murray for Britain and Nick Kyrgios will surely spice things up as he turns out for Davis Cup heavyweights Australia.

But there will be notable absentees. Roger Federer’s Switzerland failed to qualify, world number five Dominic Thiem’s Austria also missed out while Germany will be without Alexander Zverev who has shunned the event. The format will involve the 18 nations, which include two wildcards, split into six groups of three with the winners and best two runners-up moving on to the knockout phase.