Novak Djokovic’s shattered dream part of incredible story in a revived tournament
If anyone had any doubts about the significance of the Davis Cup on the modern tennis landscape, they merely needed to glance at the scenes across the globe last weekend as team tennis took centre stage.
Hubert Hurkacz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud were among the big names taking centre stage in a competition that has been in existence since 1900, but had been fighting to retain its significance in a crowded tennis calendar in recent years.
The ITF’s move to go into partnership with the Kosmos Group led by former Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique proved to be unsuccessful as the agreement was cut short.
The ITF signed a 25-year partnership with Kosmos Tennis in 2018, with a brand new Davis Cup format launched that included an end-of-season ‘World Cup of Tennis’ event introduced.
Yet the deal was cut short last year, sparking some suggestions that the competition faced an uncertain future with some of the game’s top players opting against playing Davis Cup matches as they focused on their own careers.
That narrative has changed since a wonderfully successful Davis Cup Finals in Malaga last November included what may be a hugely significant win for Italy’s Jannik Sinner against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Sinner went on to lead Italy to glory in the Final, as Italy’s tennis-loving nation toasted the win as one of the greatest in their sporting history.
Now we have just had one of the most epic weekends of Davis Cup tennis in recent years, with Argentina’s win against the plucky Kazakhstan team in Rosario a notable highlight.
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Argentina had three top 30 players in their ranks with Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Etcheverry joining Sebantsian Baez in a powerful singles line-up, while their established doubles duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni qualified for last year’s ATP Finals in Turin.
Yet Cerundolo and Etcheverry fell to shock defeats against lower-ranked opponents and when No. 338 Dmitry Popko held two match points against Baez in the decisive fifth match, it seemed as if Argentina were be condemned to defeat on home soil.
Somehow, Baez dug himself out of a hole, with the scenes as he hit the winning shot thrilling a huge crowd and a big TV audience across Argentina.
https://twitter.com/DavisCup/status/1754282033084268600
Players need to play for their nations in the Davis Cup to ensure they qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games and that is encouraging some big names to compete, with reigning champions Italy, 2023 runners-up Australia and wild cards Great Britain and Spain joined by Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands and USA in the last-16.
One of the most significant results this weekend saw Slovakia hand Serbia a comprehensive defeat, ending the hopes of world No 1 to make up for his near miss against Sinner in last year’s Malaga Finals for another year at least.
“All together very bad, it’s a very bad feeling,” said Serbia captain Viktor Troicki, after Djokovic decided not to play in this tie.
“To lose 4-0 against Slovakia, it’s a debacle. The bitter taste remains even from a few months ago and the semi-final in Malaga with Italy. We definitely have to restart and start over, that’s the next step. I’m very unhappy with this. We’ll see how to proceed.”
When asked whether Djokovic could be expected to play in a relegation match for Serbia shortly after the US Open in September, Troicki added: “We have until September to talk, to see how everything will turn out.
“We didn’t always have Novak in the national team, the boys played well even without him. It showed in Valencia as well. It’s not Djokovic who is always there, of course, it’s always easier with him.
“These guys have huge quality, they need to feel better as a team, to give their maximum for the team. That’s something that I think can be better.
“It hurts, I’m disappointed because I know we can do a lot better, especially when we play in Serbia.
“These players are professionals, but we have to be a better team. Whatever the squad is, are we injured, like this, like that, we have to be there until the end. It wasn’t enough this time.
“Let’s move on. It’s bad, catastrophic. Life goes on, we have to recover and get ready for September.”
The 16 nations will be drawn into four groups of four teams and the Group Stage Finals will take place on 10-15 September.
The date of the draw and the four Group Stage hosts will be announced in due course.
