9vicman wrote:

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Coup Droit wrote:

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Got to love Andy

The ITF, and Mark Woodforde in particular, are critical of Stan for being 'so public' with his photos and criticism of the current format (he's got a blinkin' cheek - I bet he'd have loved it if Stan had put up a happy, clappy tweet - so it's all OK as long as you don't disagree, huh?)

And Andy cuts to the chase too:

"While the ITF insists players were consulted and their views taken into account, that is not the feeling among those doing battle on the court.

Andy Murray said: "I was on the ATP player council when the initial discussions were had about this format, not one person on the council supported it.

"We told that to (ITF president) David Haggerty and to the ITF at the time. We were told that would be taken into consideration and then literally two days later it was announced they were changing the format.

"We're fortunate here because we get to play all of the matches in a brilliant atmosphere, great crowd. It is a shame when France and Australia, two of the biggest tennis nations, they love their Davis Cup, and they're playing in front of what feels like an empty stadium.

"It feels wrong. I think the format will have to change if it's going to be successful again. All the players loved the home-and-away ties, I think the fans loved the home-and-away ties as well. Hopefully there's a way we can get it back to that."

www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/tennis/current-davis-cup-format-set-to-get-stay-of-execution-despite-being-wildly-unpopular/ar-AA1gOyks

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 16th of September 2023 03:42:23 PM

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Its a little disingenuous. My understanding is that the players wrote as a group asking for the old format to be changed, but there was no consensus as to the ideal format. Probably because there isnt one. They certainly wanted to reduce the number of weeks in the calendar (the ATP wanted two weeks) and also look at best of 5 sets. In 2019 and 2021, there were 2 weeks of  World Group level Davis Cup, and this was increased to 3 weeks in 2022 under the new Finals format. If you were going to return to home and away only, this would mean only 8 nations could challenge for the title over 3 weeks, compared with 16 teams under the old World Group/4 weeks, or 28 nations under the current format (Qualifiers/Finals).

It is clear that in the current landscape it is difficult to attract fans to watch matches that dont involve their own team, which makes it very difficult to implement a World Cup of Tennis format. Ironically the best example of a one-venue event was the old Federation Cup (1963-91), which at its best attracted lots of fans throughout the week (eg Nottingham 1991). But this event was held outdoors during the day with 32 nations and multiple courts in use so easier to sell as a festival of tennis.

I think the players have slightly short term memories as they was huge criticism of the old format, but obviously you cant continue to play matches in front of empty stadiums. Ironically Malaga was pretty successful last year, but that was with Spain in the field on the back of which there was good ticket distribution. 

Probably the players wanted a 3 set format rather than 5 sets, the rest was probably acceptable, self preservation etc. There is a perfect format, already, always have a home team, like footy, rugby, cricket, etc