Davis Cup to get overhaul with season-ending tourney
The Davis Cup is getting a radical makeover in hopes of reviving an event that has lost some luster.
Beginning next year, the top team event in men’s tennis will be decided with a season-ending, 18-team tournament at a neutral site. The International Tennis Federation believes this format will be more attractive to elite players who often pass on competing for their countries because of a crowded schedule.
Teams will play one week in February to advance to the championship in November, replacing the current Davis Cup format that is played over four weekends throughout the year.
The $3 billion, 25-year agreement was approved Thursday at the ITF’s conference in Orlando.
Beginning in 2019, 24 nations will compete in a home-or-away qualifying round in February, with the 12 winners advancing to the final tournament. They will be joined by the four semifinalists from the previous year, along with two wild-card teams.
The first championship will be held on an indoor hardcourt in November 2019.
Top-ranked Simona Halep needed only eight points to complete a comeback that was put on hold overnight by rain, beating qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.
Madison Keys advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Angelique Kerber 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Rain resulted in three matches being suspended overnight.
Soccer: The two teams from Genoa — Sampdoria and Genoa — had their weekend Serie A matches postponed after at least 39 people were killed in a bridge collapse in the Italian city. Sampdoria was to host Fiorentina and Genoa was to play at AC Milan. No makeup date was announced.
World Cup champion France is No. 1 in the FIFA rankings for the first time in 16 years. Germany, the previous World Cup champion, dropped to 15th. The U.S., which did not qualify for the World Cup, advanced three spots to No. 22.
Motor sports: Kasey Kahne announced he will retire from full-time racing after 15 years in NASCAR and plans to focus on the sprint-car team he owns. The former Hendrick Motorsports driver has 18 Cup wins.
Carlos Sainz Jr., 23, will leave Renault to drive for McLaren in Formula One next year as a replacement for Fernando Alonso. Alonso said Tuesday he was leaving the series at the end of the season.
Johnny Sauter held off Stewart Friesen at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for his fifth NASCAR Truck Series victory of the season.
Men’s gymnastics: Four-time champion Sam Mikulak overcame a pair of miscues on high bar and pommel horse to post an all-around score of 85.150 during the opening round of the U.S. championships in Boston. He was more than a point clear of Stanford alum Akash Modi. Allan Bower was third at 83.350 followed by Cal alum Donothan Bailey and defending champ Yul Moldauer.