ITF Plans World Cup of Tennis Finals

(ATR) The International Tennis Federation is planning to overhaul the Davis Cup format with a "major season-ending finale" featuring 18 nations.

The ITF board of directors has unanimously endorsed the proposal to create a new annual season-ending World Cup of Tennis Finals that will crown the Davis Cup champions. The week-long event would be held in November.

The plan is part of a 25-year, $3 billion partnership with investment group Kosmos, which is founded by founded by Barcelona and Spain international footballer Gerard Pique. The group is backed by Hiroshi Mikitani, chairman and CEO of Rakuten, the Tokyo-based e-commerce company.

The investment from Kosmos will include significant increases in prize money for players and ITF member nations, and the funding of grassroots projects and other tennis development programs.

The federation said the proposal, which is subject to the successful completion of due diligence and finalisation of a formal agreement, would generate substantial revenues for global tennis development.

The plans will be submitted to the ITF annual general meeting in August in Orlando, with a two-thirds majority required to green-light the initiative.

"This is a complete game-changer for the ITF and for tennis," ITF president David Haggerty said. "Our Board has supported a bold and ambitious plan for the future of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, one of the sport’s most cherished and important events and a key cornerstone in our ITF2024 strategy.

"Our vision is to create a major season-ending finale that will be a festival of tennis and entertainment, featuring the world’s greatest players representing their nations to decide the Davis Cup champions.

"This new partnership will not only create a true World Cup of Tennis, but will also unlock record levels of new investment for future generations of tennis players and fans around the world."

Several cities have already expressed interest in hosting the new event, and the ITF and Kosmos will continue discussions with a view to launching the finals in 2019.

Under the plans, the World Cup of Tennis Finals will be played over seven days in November in the traditional week of the Davis Cup Final.

They will feature a round-robin format followed by a quarterfinal knockout stage. Each tie will consist of two singles and one doubles over best-of-three sets. The 16 World Group nations will automatically qualify for the finals – and a further two nations will be selected.

There will also be a play-off round which will include the eight nations that qualify from the Zone Group I events. The eight play-off winners will earn a place in the following year’s finals.

There will be no change to the format of zone group competition. In Zone Groups I and II, home-and-away ties will continue to be played during the traditional three weeks in the calendar. Zone Groups III and IV will continue to consist of week-long round-robin events.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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