Davis Cup Director Defends New Format Amid Criticisms from Wawrinka

The director of the Davis Cup Finals, Feliciano López, has assured that the criticisms “as strong” as that made by the Swiss tennis player Stanislas Warinka of the format of the competition “are not positive” because they do not reflect “one hundred percent the reality” of the competition.

“A tweet at a given moment does more damage than people can think,” said the former Toledo tennis player regarding the message that Wawrinka shared with Gerard Piqué, owner of the Kosmos company – which at the beginning of this year withdrew from the organization of the event – in which it showed stands with a small audience in the group stage duel between Switzerland and France in Manchester.

After the controversy over the number of spectators in the qualifying match, López assured, in an informative meeting within the framework of the finals being held this week in Malaga, that the following day had a “full crowd” in the match in which Great Britain played at home and added that “if the format was modified because the players complained that the other one did not work, now that it has been changed you cannot complain again.”

The director has asked for “time and stability” to establish this hybrid format, which maintains “the essence of the competition” of the old model, with a final phase “more adapted to modern tennis”; and, although he was open to new proposals for the future, he has confirmed that the tournament, organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), with the sponsorship of Lexus, will maintain the same structure in 2024.

The José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace in Málaga, which hosts the Finals of Eight until November 26, has registered 85% box office in the opening match in which Finland has advanced to the semifinals after beating Canada by two victories at a time. one, while a full house is expected for both the confrontation between Novak Djokovic’s Serbia and Great Britain and for the semifinals and final.

“I think it is a very good example that Djokovic is here because he can help transmit to new generations the emotion that a Davis Cup has,” said López, for whom the emotional factor can produce unusual “surprises” such as “the number three hundred in the ATP ranking can defeat number seven in the world.”

On the court, he has confessed that “he has a very bad time playing in this cup” because the responsibility is very different when competing only for oneself than when representing an entire country, of which he sees himself as captain in the short term despite that would not coincide with players of his generation.

The director of the finals has pointed out that the young Spanish tennis players do not have a block “as solid” as in previous years, so the absence of Carlos Alcaraz in the group stage was a “psychological blow” and could affect “more to the team” than in other stages of the selection.

2023-11-22 13:55:28
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