Most tennis insiders expect the ITF and ATP events to eventually combine in some fashion GETTY IMAGES
There were nearly 700 words in the ATP Tour’s press release today formally announcing the 24-nation team competition ATP Cup, with buckets of ranking points and prize money. But the two most important words for understanding the news were not in the release: Davis Cup. Men’s tennis is on a collision course as it stands now, with the ITF planning an 18-nation Davis Cup tournament in late November '19 in Madrid. The ATP is essentially replicating the same format six weeks later to start the '20 season in Australia. Most tennis insiders expect eventually the two events to merge or combine in some fashion because the players have already been physically over burdened even before the launch of these events. However, for now, they are two distinct separate events vying to attract dozens of top ATP players. What the ATP Cup has that the Davis Cup does not is ranking points. The ATP announcement said up to 750 ranking points would be available to the winners. “There will be points available across the board depending on the round, and the opponent’s ranking,” an ATP spokesperson emailed. “The maximum that a single player could earn in the winning team across the 10 day is 750 points.” For context, the top ATP events award 1,000 points to the winner, and the next level down awards 500 points. The event, scheduled to occur Jan. 3-12, 2020, in three Australian cities, is slated to award $15M in prize money, less than the roughly $20M the Davis Cup said it will award next November. However, rankings are critical often to determining endorsement income, so if a player can improve his ranking by playing the ATP Cup, smaller prize money might be a worthwhile tradeoff (Daniel Kaplan, THE DAILY).
DELICATE SITUATION: In London, Stuart Fraser notes ATP Players Council President Novak Djokovic once again "reiterated his concerns that tennis cannot sustain two similar international team events, which are being crammed into an already bulging calendar." Djokovic said the situation is "delicate," and that in the next two years, "we'll have both happening in a very similar format, if not the same, six weeks apart." Djokovic: "I don't think it's good for the sport. More job opportunities for players, yes. But I think it's not sustainable. We will have two average events. So I think creating one event is an ideal scenario and I think outcome for everyone." He added, "We have the longest season in all sports and we're just adding events. We have to try to focus on quality rather than quantity" (LONDON TIMES, 11/15). Tennis player Alexander Zverev said the season already is "way too long." Zverev: "That's the issue. But I've said it before. We play for 11 months a year. That's ridiculous. No other professional sport does that." ATP Exec Chair & President Chris Kermode and Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley both indicated that they "hoped to resolve the scheduling issue." Kermode said that the ATP should "look to make some changes to the calendar in general," after having discussed it with the ITF, WTA and all four Grand Slam events this week (ESPN.com, 11/15).
