Otacon
Hall of Fame
While the Davis Cup semifinals were underway last week, a bigger contest for control of the sport’s team events was unfolding behind the scenes. The ITF’s recent vote to transform the competition into a one-week, 18-nation event in a single location, coupled with the ATP’s decision to re-start its own, similar World Team Cup, has opened up a battleground that could have far-reaching repercussions across the tour.
Having two national team competitions — and having them just six weeks apart — seems “insane,” as even ATP CEO Chris Kermode put it, and it is puzzling that things even got to this point in the first place. But when soccer player Gerard Pique made his initial approach to the ITF about a World Cup-style tennis competition, its change-adverse leader at the time, Francesco Ricci Bitti, would not hear of such radical reform. Rebuffed, Pique went to the ATP and found it receptive at first, rummaging up its shelved Dusseldorf-based event as a potential vehicle. Then that also broke down, prompting Pique to return to the ITF, which was now led by the change-oriented David Haggerty and eager to bring him on.
The ATP, though, still pursued its idea, finding a Chinese investment group and getting the backing of Tennis Australia, which saw the World Team Cup as an appealing lead-up to the Australian Open. The ITF announced an agreement to reform the Davis Cup with Pique’s investment group, Kosmos, worth around $125 million annually.
Talks were attempted by the ITF and ATP to avoid an obvious clash, but did not go anywhere. That became apparent when the ATP declared plans for its World Team Cup just before Wimbledon, followed by the ITF approving its reforms in a highly contentious vote at the organization’s Annual General Meeting.
Now the potential for conflict seems far higher than the potential for co-operation, and is also drawing in the game’s other major constituencies. Here’s a look at the lines of contention.
ITF vs. ATP
Finding ground for the two sides to work together is difficult. A combined ITF and ATP team competition is geographically unlikely. Tennis Australia’s involvement means the World Team Cup is committed to being in Australia, while the ITF has pledged its first two finals to Europe, likely Madrid or Lille.
There could be some movement on the dates, but juggling the packed tennis schedule is far from simple. There are currently four Davis Cup weeks in the season, so on the surface it seems like the new competition would lighten the load. But perhaps not.
While new Davis Cup has been slotted into the final week in November, the timing is not very palatable to the players, who do not want it to interrupt their off-season break. That might be why Pique told Le Figaro he wants to organize with the ATP to move the competition to September.
There is already a Davis Cup round in September, but not in a good spot — it is played the week following the US Open. But if it were moved to the following week, as the ITF likely wants, it would conflict not just with ATP events but also with the Roger Federer-created Laver Cup, which technically an exhibition, but an event with deep pockets attracting most top ten players.
“We have our dates. We’re not moving,” Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick, told as an aside at the US Open.
On top of that, there’s talk of a ten-day Davis Cup, which would require two weeks in the schedule. The ITF could give the ATP one of its other three weeks in return for a two-week spot, but it has allocated a week to a compromise round of home-and-away ties, and Haggerty has told The New York Times that the ITF has plans for two new events in its other weeks. That could lead to ITF events taking up four or five weeks during the regular season, to which the ATP would object loudly.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, the tour could start scheduling ATP events at the same time as Davis Cup and the other planned ITF events. And it might not stop there — if the ATP gives more favorable scheduling and ATP points to the World Team Cup while refusing to do the same for Davis Cup, the ITF could file an antitrust lawsuit, throwing the game into protracted conflict. Conversely, the ATP could also accuse the ITF of imposing its own requirements on players. If either side goes to the courts, it is likely to be hugely expensive and damaging for both organizations.
Even if that does not happen, it seems obvious that just having two national-team events side-by-side will produce confusion and impede each other. The Davis Cup has more history, while the World Team Cup is more convenient, but it is yet to be seen which will be more successful in winning players and popularity in these new forms.
Both plan to offer around $20 million in player prize money, but the ITF’s agreement with Pique and his group is by far the more lucrative — so lucrative, there are questions about whether the group can break even and whether it will keep ploughing in funds if it does not.
Haggerty, speaking in an interview at the US Open, explained the ITF had done a “due diligence” process with a top accounting firm, in addition to assigning four board members to look at the offer and provide an assessment to the federations.
”It’s essentially a licensing agreement where we work together on the operations of the Davis Cup finals. So they have broadcast and sponsorship rights, they give us guarantees, but again, it’s a collaborative effort,” he said.
Haggerty also said funding has been provided along with bank guarantees, but a letter from Tennis Europe before the vote suggested that some federations were told the total amount of the guarantees was around $82 million.
Several of the large tennis nations were split on the reforms, both internally and externally. While top player participation has declined, the Davis Cup still has a tight hold in large corners of the sport. Among those in favor of reform was the United States, along with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) president — despite opposition from French players. Tennis Australia, which has an interest in the World Team Cup, was against it, as was Germany. The UK’s LTA also announced that it would be voting no, against the expressed preference of Wimbledon, but there are still some questions about whether it actually did as said.
Still, Haggerty is insistent the federations “are aligning together” following the vote, with nations like Germany, Serbia and Poland pledging to now back the reforms. But there are lingering concerns about improprieties around the securing of votes — there are allegations or admissions of various offers around more than 43 votes — sufficient to swing the balance required — and it is rumoured some nations have even spoken of an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Having two national team competitions — and having them just six weeks apart — seems “insane,” as even ATP CEO Chris Kermode put it, and it is puzzling that things even got to this point in the first place. But when soccer player Gerard Pique made his initial approach to the ITF about a World Cup-style tennis competition, its change-adverse leader at the time, Francesco Ricci Bitti, would not hear of such radical reform. Rebuffed, Pique went to the ATP and found it receptive at first, rummaging up its shelved Dusseldorf-based event as a potential vehicle. Then that also broke down, prompting Pique to return to the ITF, which was now led by the change-oriented David Haggerty and eager to bring him on.
The ATP, though, still pursued its idea, finding a Chinese investment group and getting the backing of Tennis Australia, which saw the World Team Cup as an appealing lead-up to the Australian Open. The ITF announced an agreement to reform the Davis Cup with Pique’s investment group, Kosmos, worth around $125 million annually.
Talks were attempted by the ITF and ATP to avoid an obvious clash, but did not go anywhere. That became apparent when the ATP declared plans for its World Team Cup just before Wimbledon, followed by the ITF approving its reforms in a highly contentious vote at the organization’s Annual General Meeting.
Now the potential for conflict seems far higher than the potential for co-operation, and is also drawing in the game’s other major constituencies. Here’s a look at the lines of contention.
ITF vs. ATP
Finding ground for the two sides to work together is difficult. A combined ITF and ATP team competition is geographically unlikely. Tennis Australia’s involvement means the World Team Cup is committed to being in Australia, while the ITF has pledged its first two finals to Europe, likely Madrid or Lille.
There could be some movement on the dates, but juggling the packed tennis schedule is far from simple. There are currently four Davis Cup weeks in the season, so on the surface it seems like the new competition would lighten the load. But perhaps not.
While new Davis Cup has been slotted into the final week in November, the timing is not very palatable to the players, who do not want it to interrupt their off-season break. That might be why Pique told Le Figaro he wants to organize with the ATP to move the competition to September.
There is already a Davis Cup round in September, but not in a good spot — it is played the week following the US Open. But if it were moved to the following week, as the ITF likely wants, it would conflict not just with ATP events but also with the Roger Federer-created Laver Cup, which technically an exhibition, but an event with deep pockets attracting most top ten players.
“We have our dates. We’re not moving,” Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick, told as an aside at the US Open.
On top of that, there’s talk of a ten-day Davis Cup, which would require two weeks in the schedule. The ITF could give the ATP one of its other three weeks in return for a two-week spot, but it has allocated a week to a compromise round of home-and-away ties, and Haggerty has told The New York Times that the ITF has plans for two new events in its other weeks. That could lead to ITF events taking up four or five weeks during the regular season, to which the ATP would object loudly.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, the tour could start scheduling ATP events at the same time as Davis Cup and the other planned ITF events. And it might not stop there — if the ATP gives more favorable scheduling and ATP points to the World Team Cup while refusing to do the same for Davis Cup, the ITF could file an antitrust lawsuit, throwing the game into protracted conflict. Conversely, the ATP could also accuse the ITF of imposing its own requirements on players. If either side goes to the courts, it is likely to be hugely expensive and damaging for both organizations.
Even if that does not happen, it seems obvious that just having two national-team events side-by-side will produce confusion and impede each other. The Davis Cup has more history, while the World Team Cup is more convenient, but it is yet to be seen which will be more successful in winning players and popularity in these new forms.
Both plan to offer around $20 million in player prize money, but the ITF’s agreement with Pique and his group is by far the more lucrative — so lucrative, there are questions about whether the group can break even and whether it will keep ploughing in funds if it does not.
Haggerty, speaking in an interview at the US Open, explained the ITF had done a “due diligence” process with a top accounting firm, in addition to assigning four board members to look at the offer and provide an assessment to the federations.
”It’s essentially a licensing agreement where we work together on the operations of the Davis Cup finals. So they have broadcast and sponsorship rights, they give us guarantees, but again, it’s a collaborative effort,” he said.
Haggerty also said funding has been provided along with bank guarantees, but a letter from Tennis Europe before the vote suggested that some federations were told the total amount of the guarantees was around $82 million.
Several of the large tennis nations were split on the reforms, both internally and externally. While top player participation has declined, the Davis Cup still has a tight hold in large corners of the sport. Among those in favor of reform was the United States, along with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) president — despite opposition from French players. Tennis Australia, which has an interest in the World Team Cup, was against it, as was Germany. The UK’s LTA also announced that it would be voting no, against the expressed preference of Wimbledon, but there are still some questions about whether it actually did as said.
Still, Haggerty is insistent the federations “are aligning together” following the vote, with nations like Germany, Serbia and Poland pledging to now back the reforms. But there are lingering concerns about improprieties around the securing of votes — there are allegations or admissions of various offers around more than 43 votes — sufficient to swing the balance required — and it is rumoured some nations have even spoken of an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
