TURIN
\nJannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are among the world\u2019s top players calling for the Davis Cup to return to its traditional home-and-away format and be staged over two years, a proposal backed by ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.
\nThe old format of home-and-away ties played over a few days every year was scrapped by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 2019, and this year\u2019s Final 8 in Bologna begins two days after Sunday\u2019s ATP Finals decider in Turin.
\nSinner, who is into the ATP Finals last four and was part of the Italy team which won the last two Davis Cups, ruled himself out of selection this year to concentrate on preparations for his Australian Open defence.
\n\u201cI never unfortunately played the Davis Cup, the real Davis Cup, where it\u2019s away, playing in Argentina or in Brazil with the whole stadium, not against you, but for the other team,\u201d Sinner said after his win over Ben Shelton on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can happen that Australia plays against U.S. next year in Bologna. You don\u2019t have this Davis Cup feeling.\u201d
\nThe relentless calendar and lack of a proper off-season is an ongoing debate and the Professional Tennis Players\u2019 Association filed a lawsuit against the sport\u2019s governing bodies in March, describing the situation as unsustainable.
\n\u201cI think playing with this schedule, Davis Cup, it\u2019s difficult that you have every year from every country the best players in the world,\u201d Sinner said.
\n\u201cWhat I would like is having Davis Cup throughout two years. You can set up the semi-finals in the beginning of the year and the final at the end of the year.\u201d
\nWorld number one Alcaraz, who is competing for Spain this year and is also into the last four of the ATP Finals, was asked about the Davis Cup after his win over Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday, following Musetti\u2019s withdrawal from the Italy team.
\n\u201cIf the tournament is played every two or three years the commitment of the players, it\u2019s going to be even more because it\u2019s unique, it\u2019s different,\u201d Alcaraz said.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re not able to play every year. I would say they have to do something about it to make the Davis Cup unique.\u201d
\nATP chairman Gaudenzi spoke to reporters in Turin on Thursday, and also broached the Davis Cup topic when speaking about scheduling issues.
\n\u201cI do really love the Davis Cup. I think it\u2019s an amazing event,\u201d Gaudenzi said.
\n\u201cWe should all come together to try to make it the World Cup for tennis. In an ideal world I think the Davis Cup could go home and away and over two years.\u201d
\nGerman Alexander Zverev will compete in Bologna and on Friday he exited the ATP Finals after defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime.
\n\u201cThe true Davis Cup is the home-and-away ties,\u201d Zverev said.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think this Davis Cup is the real Davis Cup. It\u2019s an exhibition tournament in a way, that is called Davis Cup.
\n\u201cTo play against Italy in Italy would be a completely different atmosphere than playing Italy in Spain. I played against Rafa Nadal in a bullfighting arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TURIN Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are among the world\u2019s top players calling for the Davis Cup to return to its traditional home-and-away format and be staged over two years, a proposal backed by ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. The old format of home-and-away ties played over a few days every year was scrapped by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-514847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n