At the end of this Davis Cup weekend everything was fine, and the inconvenient journey to the Bosnian-Hercegovinian town of Mostar, located in a mountain range, remained the biggest challenge for the German team. Even without her two best players, Alexander Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff, she did not have to reach her performance limits, as team boss Michael Kohlmann had previously feared.
The fear of being relegated from the World Group for the third time after 1982 and 2003 quickly disappeared. Bosnia-Hercegovina did not have the means to seriously trouble the German tennis team with Daniel Altmaier, Yannick Hanfmann and the doubles team Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz.
The 3-0 win was clear after the doubles game on Sunday, which Krawietz/Pütz easily won 6:4 and 6:2 against Mirza Basic and Damir Dzumhur. “It was a perfect week for us,” said Kohlmann, “everyone in the team did a great job and we were rewarded for it.”
No longer recognizable
Without trembling, without drama, without any tension, the Germans fulfilled their duty in this fight against relegation. That suited them, but this rather one-sided game was not exciting.
But that was once the biggest appeal of this traditional competition, which, however, has no longer been recognizable since the controversial reform of 2018. The criticism of the Davis Cup format these days was again significantly louder than the 800 sweating spectators in the tennis club in Mostar, who only had energy for friendly applause in the oppressive heat.
In its relegation in Mostar, the German team still played according to the old format with home or away games. And this home advantage, which sometimes causes the mood in the stands to boil over, has caused many a Davis Cup game to be overturned in the past and has often captivated millions of fans around the world in front of their screens.
When the Spanish investment group Kosmos around former soccer star Gerard Piqué acquired the rights five years ago for three billion dollars and 25 years, three days of tennis dramas and epic five-set matches were over.
Instead, amid protests from all sides, Piqué introduced group duels at just one venue, similar to the format of a Football World Cup. No more home advantage, little enthusiasm. It is hardly surprising that Boris Becker is now complaining that the soul of the Davis Cup has been “taken away”. For the three-time Wimbledon winner, this competition brings back memories of his legendary “Battle of Hartford” in 1987.
Reform ends prematurely
At that time, Germany was playing in the relegation game against the USA, and the 19-year-old Becker was rummaging, diving around the pitch and barking insults at one another with John McEnroe. After 6:21 hours, Becker had lost two kilograms of weight but won the crazy tennis drama.
Piqué’s radical reform ended prematurely and in a fiasco; the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced the separation after less than five years. The Kosmos company then announced a lawsuit worth millions before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to the alleged breach of contract. The future of the Davis Cup is open. The only thing that is certain is that his presence is a tragedy.
Modernization of the format
Stan Wawrinka, who played one of the 16 group duels in the World Group last week with Switzerland, which were spread across the four venues Manchester, Bologna, Valencia and Split, was one of the harshest of the numerous critics.
Before the game against France, Wawrinka posted a video from the hall in Manchester, which was yawningly empty. “Thank you Gerard Piqué and ITF,” wrote the 2014 Davis Cup winner. The players don’t care that Kosmos and Piqué are no longer responsible this year. They had forced this unspeakable reform upon them.
It was Wawrinka who brought the German team relegation with the 2-3 defeat in Trier in February. Now Kohlmann hopes “that we will attack the Davis Cup again next year.” How this will take place remains to be seen. But Dietloff von Arnim, the President of the German Tennis Association, could soon set the course for the next reform; in a week he will be running for the office of ITF President.
Published/Updated: Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4
“In recent decades, the Davis Cup has thrived on the atmosphere at home and away games,” explained von Arnim in Mostar on Servus-TV, “we should all carefully consider how we can get it back on the road to success.” His approach: “ We should listen to the players.” World number one Novak Djokovic also demanded this. However, time cannot be turned back.
The Davis Cup needs a modernization that is more in line with the consumer behavior of the spectators, but still does not take away the special appeal of the drama of a country duel. Legendary duels cannot be reproduced, but even Boris Becker never offered a spectacle in front of empty stands.
