The Davis Cup will begin from 18th-24th November 2019 in Madrid, Spain. The cup is one of the oldest team format competitions for tennis. The tournament began in 1900 between the USA and Great Britain. American Dwight Filley Davis came up with the idea for the tournament. This year’s tournament will feature a new format of play.
The new Davis Cup
Qualification for the finals in Madrid began in February. Twenty-four teams battled for the 12 spots available in the finals. The finals will feature 18 teams, the twelve qualifiers, the four semi-finalists from last year’s tournament, and two wild card teams. At the tournament, the countries will play in groups of three teams each. The teams will play each other in a round-robin format. The winners of the six groups and the two teams with the best record based on sets and games won will qualify for the quarterfinal stage. The countries will then face each other in the knockout stages with the winner crowned in the final.
Nadal vs. Medvedev
Two of the favorite teams to win the tournament are Spain and Russia. Their star players, Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev, will lead the two teams. The two nations are in the same group together with Croatia. The Spanish and the Russian will meet in the first singles match up between the two countries at the Manolo Santana stadium. Organizers for the event have said that tickets for the match between the two have already sold out. The match will be a rematch of this year’s US Open final. Nadal won the match to clinch his 19th Grand Slam of his career. He, however, had to work hard for the title after the match lasted close to five hours as Medvedev put up a fight.
The Russian player has been in top form lately. He won the Shanghai Masters last week, defeating Alexander Zverev in the final. Daniil has reached six straight tournament finals since the Washington Open. Rafa and Medvedev have also qualified for the ATP Finals in London. The finals will begin on 10th November, with the Davis Cup starting a week after the finals. Both tournaments will have the same hard court surface. The Greenset Company will supply the courts at both tournaments. Apart from the world No. 2 and No.4, the other singles match between Spain and Russia will feature Roberto Bautista and Karen Khachanov.
Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.2, Nadal played his last match on the 8th of September when he defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4 in the final in U.S. Open to win his 84th career title.
This year the Spaniard has a 47-6 win-loss record. The Spaniard clinched 4 titles in 2019 in Rome, at the French Open, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open. The Spaniard was the finalist at the Australian Open.
Daniil Medvedev’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.4 (career-high), Daniil played his last match on the 13th of October when he beat Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-1 in the final in Shanghai to win his 7th career title.
This year the Russian has a 58-17 win-loss record. The Russian clinched 4 titles in 2019 in Sofia, in Cincinnati, in St. Petersburg and in Shanghai. The Russian was the finalist in Brisbane, in Barcelona, in Washington, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open.
Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev played each other 2 times. The head to head is 2-0 for Nadal.
The last time that they played each other, Rafael Nadal won 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4 in the final in U.S. Open in 08th September 2019.
Here the highlights.
Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev |
| Embed from Getty Images |
