News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 5 years ago
Rediff.com  » Sports » Revamped Davis Cup about teams, not individuals: Pique

Revamped Davis Cup about teams, not individuals: Pique

October 17, 2018 23:15 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

Roger Federer says he will not participate in the new-look Davis Cup

IMAGE: Roger Federer says he will not participate in the new-look Davis Cup. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

The focus of the new-look Davis Cup should be about teams and not individuals, Gerard Pique said on Wednesday, brushing aside concerns that top names such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will not want to participate in next year's competition.

 

Twenty-times Grand Slam champion Federer has said that he is unlikely to play in the new-look tournament, spearheaded by Barcelona player Pique's investment group Kosmos.

Changes to the Davis Cup format will see the 118-year-old competition turned into a week-long event taking place in November, with the first two editions happening in Madrid in 2019 and 2020.

Speaking in August, Federer questioned why Spain defender Pique was "meddling" in the tennis calendar.

"We want to focus on teams not individuals, on players representing their nation and their federation and on building the best teams possible," Pique said at the presentation of the competition in Madrid on Wednesday.

"We want to focus on the competition to be the teams, which is what it always has been. The Davis Cup has survived for 118 years because of the national teams, and because individual players haven't been so important."

World No 2 Djokovic has said he would "prioritise" playing in the ATP's World Team Cup, set to take place in January 2020. He has also criticised the timing of the new Davis Cup.

The World Team Cup has put men's governing body the ATP on a collision course with the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the governing body behind the revamped Davis Cup format.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024