New Davis Cup proves exciting but calendar still a challenge

Associated PressNov 25, 2019, 12:27 PM EST

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MADRID — Despite its flaws, the new Davis Cup got a passing grade on its first edition, with its modern look being accompanied by plenty of excitement on the court.

But despite the mostly positive reviews, the future success of the revamped tournament still depends on making it fit on a crowed tennis calendar that already has two other team competitions trying to establish themselves – the Laver Cup and the ATP Cup.

The top-ranked players on tour – Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – don’t think the Davis Cup and the ATP Cup can co-exist. Both suggest a merger would be the best solution.

“I don’t see two World Cups in one month on our calendar. That’s something that I personally don’t see,” said Nadal, who on Sunday led Spain to its sixth Davis Cup title with a win over first-time finalist Canada.

The inaugural ATP Cup, to be played with 24 teams, will take place in January in Australia. The Davis Cup debuted in Madrid with 18 teams.

“We have an opportunity to finally have a great competition,” Nadal said. “There is no other way than have only one big, big competition. I think Davis Cup is the right name because it’s part of the history of our sport. And it will be great if we are able to put everything together.”

Djokovic talked about the possibility of a “Super Cup” of tennis.

“Scheduling was always an issue, for both ATP Cup and Davis Cup,” he said. “An idea was the merge between the two. Looking long-term, I personally don’t think that the two events can co-exist six weeks apart. It’s just a little bit too congested.”

The International Tennis Federation signed a 25-year partnership with the Kosmos group co-founded by Barcelona star Gerard Pique to make the Davis Cup more attractive and lucrative. It transformed the year-long tournament into a one-week event played in a World Cup-style format in a single venue.

“We have to remember, there’s 119-year history that the Davis Cup has and a very important place within tennis and the calendar. The calendar is the challenge. It always has been,” ITF president David Haggerty said. “But again, we can only control what we can control, and that is Davis Cup. And we’re doing the best that we can. And again, we’ll sit down with other tennis bodies, but can’t make any promises on what might happen with other events.”

Pique said the opinion of players like Nadal and Djokovic needs to be heard.

“It makes no sense to have right now two different competitions that are very similar,” he said. “In the next few months I think we will start talking again with the ATP. And I hope in the next few months we can announce something.”

Pique said talks with Roger Federer, who co-owns the Laver Cup event that is played between European and world teams, have not advanced recently.

“It’s his baby, his competition, and he wants to protect (it). And I totally understand,” Pique said. “What we will try to do is to try to put the Davis Cup obviously in another level because we are talking about 119 years of history. You cannot compare both events. But we will try to do the best we can for our competition to make it as big as possible.”

Kosmos and the ITF hope to play the new Davis Cup in September instead of making it the season-ending tournament in November. Djokovic said that would make the competition more attractive to players.

“It is the last week of the year. It’s definitely a tough schedule for a lot of players,” Djokovic said. “It’s really difficult because you have a whole season and then you have to push yourself for another week and then eventually play singles, doubles every day.”

EXCITING FORMAT

The Davis Cup new format, with ties being decided in three matches on the same day, created exciting action in Madrid, giving teams small margins for errors.

Previously, the Davis Cup ties were decided over three days in four singles matches and one doubles.

“The format makes things very close,” Nadal said. “You make a mistake in one singles match and in the doubles anything can happen. So things are beautiful that way. But at the same time, for the best teams, it makes things dangerous.”

The change gave extra importance to the doubles matches, which in the old format were played in-between two singles matches.

Five of the seven ties in the knockout rounds of the Davis Cup Finals were decided in the doubles matches.

“For us, it’s cool to get the opportunity to potentially play those deciding matches and, you know, doubles be the discipline that’s deciding whether who goes home with the Davis Cup trophy or not,” British player Jamie Murray said.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.

New mom Elina Svitolina beats seeded player at French Open in 1st Slam match in 16 months

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:27 AM EDT

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PARIS — So much has changed for Elina Svitolina, who played – and won – her first Grand Slam match in nearly 1 1/2 years at the French Open, eliminating 2022 semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2.

For one thing, she’s now a mother: Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skaï, in October. For another, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd, nowhere near the career high of No. 3 she first reached in 2017, back in the days when she was regularly reaching the second weeks of major tournaments – including a pair of semifinal runs. Away from the courts, her home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia last year, and the war continues.

“Everything,” she said, “is kind of old and new for me right now.”

In sum, Svitolina is juggling a lot nowadays.

She hadn’t played at a Slam since a third-round exit at the Australian Open in January 2022. She hadn’t played a match anywhere since March 2022, when she was still ranked 20th.

“It was always in my head … to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” the 28-year-old Svitolina said.

The work to return to the tour after giving birth began this January; her initial WTA match came at Charleston, South Carolina, in April. She won her first title since returning to action, at a smaller event on red clay in Strasbourg, France.

At Roland Garros, she used her big forehand to compile a 20-12 edge in winners and never faced a single break point against Trevisan, who was seeded 26th.

Trevisan cried as she spoke after the match about a problem with her right foot that made it difficult to even walk and prompted her to stop playing during her quarterfinal last week at the Morocco Open, where she was the defending champion.

Still, she gave Svitolina credit.

“Even though she’s just coming back from having a daughter, she’s a champion,” Trevisan said. “And she’s coming off a title, so she’s confident.”

Svitolina talked about feeling “awful when you’re pregnant, especially the last months,” but getting into a position now where she thinks she’s stronger than before – in more ways than one.

“I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court and, match by match, I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental (state) can influence your physicality, as well,” she said. “I tried to find the balance, and I feel like I’m seeing (things) a little bit again differently as well after the break. Everything is getting there. The puzzles are getting slowly into place.”