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.
Captain Hewitt led Australia to its second straight Davis Cup last 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 last in Malaga, Spain.
Requested to evaluate the state of Davis Cup at the moment, Hewitt cited three irritating adjustments he asserts have gutted the guts 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. Decreasing matches from best-of-five units to best-of-three units has drained a few of the dizzying drama from Davis Cup.
3. Staging the Davis Cup finals on a tough court docket in Malaga, Spain has eradicated the challenges of taking part in on completely different surfaces in numerous circumstances making a uniform set of circumstances that squelch the range Davis Cup was lengthy identified for, Hewitt says.
“Malaga has placed on an excellent occasion by way of what they will do with the format that they have,” Hewitt instructed the media in Malaga. “Their arms are tied. There is no home-and-away and there is not any 5 units, so it is not splendid. We’re taking part in on a floor that, yeah, I am actually sick of taking part in on, to be trustworthy. That is not what Davis Cup is about. It is taking part in on clay, grass, outside components. You realize, there’s a number of various 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 massive matches, as effectively.”
Hewitt, a member of Australia’s Davis Cup championship groups in 1999 and 2003, has been a vocal critic of Davis Cup adjustments lately.
Corridor of Famer Hewitt stays a passionate Davis Cup supporter and advocates returning to home-and-away ties and ranging surfaces for the finals.
“A few of my biggest reminiscences had been taking part in in Davis Cup semis or finals in entrance of packed homes and it didn’t matter if it was in Australia or away, the environment was unimaginable,” Hewitt stated.
Photograph credit score: Mark Peterson/Corleve