The "latest attempt to revitalise the flagging Davis Cup" was launched in Indian Wells last week and "involves shortening matches to a maximum of three sets rather than five," according to Simon Briggs of the London TELEGRAPH. The new rule "will not come into force unless it is approved by a vote of all the tennis nations in August." But "if it got through, it would represent a fundamental rethink of a format that has remained inviolate since the competition was founded" in 1900. The idea is to "reduce the workload involved in each tie, and thus make it more appealing for the big names to participate." Exactly how the new system would play out "remains to be seen," but it is "hard to imagine that ties could continue to last for three days" (TELEGRAPH, 3/9). In Sydney, Courtney Walsh reported there are "several reasons for the mooted change" but the opening round of this year's competition illustrated why the Int'l Tennis Federation is "exploring options." Only two of the world's top 15 ranked players represented their countries in the world group. One was Nick Kyrgios, who led Australia to an "easy victory" over the Czech Republic at Kooyong. The other was Novak Djokovic, who recently said "how important it is to him to represent Serbia" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/11). Walsh also reported the move "polarised some of the world’s leading players, coaches and pundits." Rafael Nadal called on the ITF to consider "even more radical measures than those agreed to at a board meeting in southern California." Nadal "doubts the reduction in the length of rubbers will make any difference in terms of attracting players." Instead, he suggested that nations should be made to play "only a couple of ties per year." Lleyton Hewitt has been a "staunch supporter" of Davis Cup and was twice a member of winning Australian teams. U.S. captain Jim Courier said that "a change must occur." Courier: "I think if you dislike change, you'll dislike irrelevance even more" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/13). The PA reported there is "likely to be little opposition to the change of format," but other proposals put forward by ITF President David Haggerty, "who has made reforming the competition a focus since his appointment" in Sept. '15, are "more controversial." Plans for the final to be staged at a neutral venue have been "particularly contentious." Djokovic said, "The only thing that they wanted to change is the neutral final ... You're taking away from the players the one thing that players love about Davis Cup, which is the home tie, the home crowd" (PA, 3/9).
