Forget slams ATP plan to restart World Team Cup

AFP, PARIS: French Open director Guy Forget hit out on Tuesday at the ATP's plans to restart the World Team Cup, saying it could hurt the fortunes of the historic Davis Cup.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced last month a plan to run the Davis Cup -- traditionally played over four weekends spread across the season -- over a single week in November from next year.

But the ATP is hoping to revive the World Team Cup to be played for the first time in eight years in January 2020, possibly only two months after the Davis Cup.

“We could end up with two strictly identical competitions a few weeks apart, which I think would be dangerous,” said former world number four Forget.

“There is no place in the calendar to have two competitions of this kind. Whatever the format of the Davis Cup, I hope it will have the edge.”

The ITF is hoping the possible change to a one-week format improves the appeal of the Davis Cup, which has seen leading players, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, skip ties over scheduling concerns.

 

Forget slams ATP plan to restart World Team Cup

AFP, PARIS: French Open director Guy Forget hit out on Tuesday at the ATPs plans to restart the World Team Cup, saying it could hurt the fortunes of the historic Davis Cup. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced last month a plan to run the Davis Cup -- traditionally played over four weekends spread across the season -- over a single week in November from next year. But the ATP is hoping to revive the World Team Cup to be played for the first time in eight years in January 2020, possibly only two months after the Davis Cup. We could end up with two strictly identical competitions a few weeks apart, which I think would be dangerous, said former world number four Forget. There is no place in the calendar to have two competitions of this kind. Whatever the format of the Davis Cup, I hope it will have the edge. The ITF is hoping the possible change to a one-week format improves the appeal of the Davis Cup, which has seen leading players, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, skip ties over scheduling concerns.