The ITF’s Board of Directors has approved a series of reforms for the inter-nation tennis tournaments, the Davis Cup and Fed Cup, which are expected to be approved at the ITF’s AGM in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in August 2017.
Central to the reforms, and designed to reduce the physical demands on the players, is the reduction of singles rubbers from best of five sets to best of three sets, all those sets played in the tie-break format. The doubles rubber will retain the best-of-five format.
While most of the big names have played major roles during their nation’s campaigns—and the “big four” of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, have all led their countries to Davis Cup victory in recent years—most find it impossible to commit to all the ties in a season.
Juan Martin del Potro was the most recent example of the stresses of the schedule. After Argentina’s first victory last December, del Potro bypassed the Australian Open completely this year to improve his recovery. After setting a new record last September with Andy Murray in Argentina’s semi-final tie against Great Britain—five hours, seven minutes—del Potro would play almost five hours against Marin Cilic in the fourth rubber of the final, having played on both the Friday and Saturday, too.
Each phase of the Davis Cup comes hot on the heels of big events in the tennis calendar, such as after the Australian Open and the Indian Wells/Miami double header, and players may, within days, find themselves travelling to the other side of the world and often to a different surface and climate, too.
The shortened rubbers will continue to be scheduled over three days, with two singles played on Friday, the doubles rubber on Saturday, and the reverse singles on Sunday.
Other changes include:
· Finalists in both Davis Cup and Fed Cup will be guaranteed the choice of hosting their first-round tie in the following year;
· Hosting costs for national associations will be reduced;
· There will be adjustments in policy to reduce the number of dead rubbers;
· Consideration bids for fixed venue finals for Davis Cup and Fed Cup are being assessed.
In making the announcement, ITF President David Haggerty said:
“Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas are two of the most iconic team competitions in sport, but there is no doubt change is needed to ensure that we maximise their full potential.
“While still needing AGM approval, we are confident that our National Associations will see that to vote for these reforms is to vote for the long-term future of our competitions and our sport.”
The Board will reconvene later this month.