By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Devoted Davis Cup competitor Lleyton Hewitt says the competitors has been diminished by three main mis-steps.
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Captain Hewitt led Australia to its second straight Davis Cup closing final weekend the place it fell to Italy.
Jannik Sinner received the ultimate eight straight video games crushing Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-0 sealing Italy’s first Davis Cup championship in 47 years with a 2-0 conquer Australia within the Davis Cup closing in Malaga, Spain.
Asked to evaluate the state of Davis Cup immediately, Hewitt cited three irritating adjustments he asserts have gutted the center of Davis Cup.
1. The elimination of home-and-away ties has diminished the electrical energy and energetic fan ardour Davis Cup evoked all through its historical past.
2. Reducing matches from best-of-five units to best-of-three units has drained among the dizzying drama from Davis Cup.
3. Staging the Davis Cup finals on a tough courtroom in Malaga, Spain has eradicated the challenges of enjoying on completely different surfaces in numerous circumstances making a uniform set of circumstances that squelch the range Davis Cup was lengthy recognized for, Hewitt says.
“Malaga has put on a great event in terms of what they can do with the format that they’ve got,” Hewitt advised the media in Malaga. “Their hands are tied. There’s no home-and-away and there’s no five sets, so it’s not ideal. We are playing on a surface that, yeah, I’m really sick of playing on, to be honest. That’s not what Davis Cup is about. It’s playing on clay, grass, outdoor elements. You know, there’s a lot of different things.
“Yeah, it is clearly fairly irritating, I feel, that we do not get all of the completely different surfaces and circumstances all through Davis Cup anymore, and particularly within the huge matches, as properly.”
Hewitt, a member of Australia’s Davis Cup championship teams in 1999 and 2003, has been a vocal critic of Davis Cup changes in recent years.
Hall of Famer Hewitt remains a passionate Davis Cup supporter and advocates returning to home-and-away ties and varying surfaces for the finals.
“Some of my greatest memories were playing in Davis Cup semis or finals in front of packed houses and it didn’t matter if it was in Australia or away, the atmosphere was incredible,” Hewitt mentioned.
Photo credit score: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Source: www.tennisnow.com