The newly revamped Davis Cup has not gone down well with a lot of tennis players and enthusiasts. They argue that the new changes have made this historic tournament lose its meaning and what it stands for.
A total of 18 teams are taking part in this ongoing showpiece in Caja Magica stadium in Madrid, where 6 group winners and two best runners up will qualify for the quarterfinals. A best of three format has been introduced in determining who will clinch the title.
Federer, Hewitt, and Zverev have been at the forefront criticizing this tournament whose rights were recently acquired by Pique’s Kosmos Company. But the Barcelona defender has laughed off the criticism by aiming a dig at both Federer and Hewitt.
Gerard Pique takes a swipe at Federer and Hewitt
The Spaniard is convinced that Federer is afraid of the competition the Davis Cup is posing to his Laver Cup, which the Swiss actively participated in informing it. He is also surprised why the 38-year-old is against this competition despite Switzerland not qualifying.
“He has his own competition, the Laver Cup, which has been organized very well, so I understand if he sees the Davis Cup as competition. But we see it as something different because our competition is 119 years old. We respect that he doesn’t want to play in it, but Switzerland hasn’t qualified, and if he qualified, we’d see,” Pique said.
Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian captain, is one of those people who have been against the Davis Cup, furious about the tournament being planned and run by a football player.
Hewitt on Pique
“It’s ridiculous. We’re getting run by a Spanish football player. That’s like me coming out and making changes to the Champions League. He knows nothing about tennis. His group has bought into the ITF, and now they’re basically running the ITF, and that’s why we see all these Spanish sponsors and a soccer league is now the biggest sponsor of the Davis Cup, ’he said.
On his part, Pique disapproved of the criticism directed to Davis Cup, which is seen as competition to the ATP Cup organized by Tennis Australia. He confirmed that his great interest in tennis is driven by the urge to provide conducive playing conditions for tennis players.
“I play football, but I understand what a tennis player needs to be at ease. I also understand that this comes from Australians because their federation organizes the ATP tournament, and they see the Davis Cup as Competition,” he added.
Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.3, Federer played his last match on the 16th of November when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in London.
This year Roger has a 51-10 win-loss record. Roger conquered 4 titles in 2019 in Dubai, in Miami, in Halle and in Basel. The Swiss was the finalist in Indian Wells and in Wimbledon.
Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt played each other 27 times. The head to head is 18-9 for Federer.
The last time that they played, Lleyton Hewitt won 6-1 4-6 6-3 in the final in The Brisbane on the January 2014.
Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt |
| Embed from Getty Images |
