This year the Davis Cup underwent changes again. Both Kosmos, Gerard Piqué’s company that organizes the tournament, and the ITF, the governing body of world tennis, constantly seek to optimize the competition format to boost business. Thus, the Finals that were played entirely in Madrid in 2019 and in three different venues in 2021, will have a split schedule.
The group stage will be played from September 14 to 18 in four locations to be confirmed depending on the 16 teams that will play. Four zones of four countries each will be formed, and the best two will advance to the final phase, which will be direct elimination and in a single city – it could be Dubai – from November 23 to 27.
The first step of Argentina in the second stage of the Davis Cup will be known on March 24, day of the draw that will define the composition of the groups. Regarding the venues, for the moment, there are no further details. ITF will determine the four cities not so much by sporting circumstance but by economic attractiveness, in such a way that there could be no local teams on the first date of the Finals.
In addition to the team captained by William Coria, Croatia (finalist in 2021), Great Britain, Serbia (guests), Spain, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Belgium and South Korea are already in the next stage. At the end of the note, three series still remained to be defined. The unknown until the moment of the draw will be the presence of Russia, the defending champion, who was suspended from team tournaments after the military invasion of Ukraine.
The determining factor in the future of Argentine tennis goes through the political aspect. In the coming weeks, the AAT will have to renew authorities currently headed by Agustin Calleri. The date of the elections is not defined given that the balance must first be presented, which is tied to the final approval of the audit carried out by the company PwC.
Sources from the entity assured Ambit that the elections will be held “in no more than two or three months, once the balance is approved”. Until then there will be a deadline to present the lists. For the moment, the opposition has not released its letters, although there is still much to be defined.
As this medium was able to find out, Calleri will go for a new mandate at the head of the organization, which would rule out an eventual candidacy of César Francislegal secretary of the entity, who recently made several tours of the interior to get closer to the clubs.
Some of the federations of the interior expressed their concern about the competition system, which exhibits a disproportion between the regional tournaments that are held and the number of players in each province. On the other hand, in recent months the AAT decided not to send juniors to world or continental events, which caused further anger.
According to what some leaders commented, the disagreement of federations of the interior with both sporting and political weight escalated to the point of proposing a fracture with the leadership of the AAT.
The next few weeks will be decisive for Argentine tennis. As for sports, the three rivals of the team that Coria commands will meet on March 24. In the government, the details are not yet closed, but the passing of the weeks will be decisive and there will be a lot at stake.
