In the end, the Davis Cup delivered the images that only it can deliver in the individual sport that tennis is: a team from Italy dancing, jumping and roaring with joy, playing together in the golden confetti shower of Málaga Triumph cheered. The 2-0 win in the final against Australia gave the Italians their first title in 47 years on Sunday evening. A little later, David Haggerty, President of the World Tennis Federation ITF, beamed with the winners as he presented them with the trophy, lovingly mocked as the “ugliest salad bowl in the world”.
It has been five years since the ITF, under Haggerty’s leadership, radically reformed the world’s oldest national competition. Spanish star footballer Gerard Piqué’s investor group Kosmos, which acquired the rights to the Davis Cup, then virtually abolished the old format with home and away games and replaced it with a final tournament at one location.
In return, the ITF and its member associations were promised an incredible three billion dollars to be paid out over 25 years. But despite corrections in recent years, the new mode flopped. Because the money didn’t come up, there was a noisy break with the investor in the spring of 2023.
“The ugliest salad bowl in the world”: Jannik Sinner and colleagues are happy to take it anyway. : Image: AFP
It is now a special punchline that in the first year after Kosmos, the competition finally wrote the kind of stories in its final tournament that had already been expected from it back then. The week with the knockout duels in Málaga was well attended, there were groups of fans from different countries and in the semi-finals, when the Italian Jannik Sinner fended off three match points in a row against the great Novak Djokovic and won, even an absolute one Highlight match with two of the biggest stars in the scene right now.
Desolate atmosphere
Haggerty sees himself confirmed. He announced that there would be no return to the old format. In 2024, the game will continue to be played in the current mode due to existing contracts. But even after that there is little room for change.
The positive impressions of Málaga cannot hide the problems that the traditional competition still has. During the intermediate rounds with four teams introduced two years ago, there was a yawning emptiness in many arenas, at least apart from the games of the home nations. This despite Haggerty admitting that the ITF had sometimes brought in fans from local universities to build the mood. There were differences between the venues. But there is great frustration among the players about the sometimes bleak atmosphere.
Arnim is also required
It therefore remains a task for the German Tennis Federation (DTB) to push for improvements to the format despite the ITF’s insistence. DTB President Dietloff von Arnim challenged Haggerty in the presidential election in September – and suffered a crushing defeat. To this end, he now sits on the “board of directors” of the world association and has to exert his influence in the discussion that is now beginning about the future of the competition.
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In the end, the images and stories that the Davis Cup produced at the final tournament were not evidence of the power of the final tournament, but simply of the power of the Davis Cup. This competition deserves a different mode.
