Rival tennis World Cups would be 'insane' – ATP chairman
Staging two competing World Cup events in the space of six weeks would be “insane”, says ATP executive chairman Chris Kermode.
The International Tennis Federation has set out plans for an 18-team end-of-season event which will crown the Davis Cup champions from 2019.
The ATP’s priority is to stage a revamped World Team Cup in Australia in the first week of January from 2020.
“Hopefully tennis works together and we come up with a solution,” said Kermode.
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Talks have already taken place between the ITF – the governing body of world tennis – and the Association of Tennis Professionals to try and find a compromise, he added.
Kermode, whose organisation runs the men’s professional tour, says he is “confident” there will ultimately only be one World Cup, but cannot promise it will be a co-sanctioned event.
“It doesn’t make any sense to have two team events. Personally I think that would be insane. Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen,” Kermode told BBC Sport.
“We have had very, very good talks. What we are trying to do is understand that tennis is a multi-faceted business. Davis Cup is a sports entity that has been around for hundreds of years and we value it.
“Equally the World Team Cup was an event we had for 35 years. It’s been off the shelf for a while, but could we bring that back?
“I think there’s clearly a demand for a huge team event that anyone can buy into.”
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Britain’s Jamie Murray, who is a member of the ATP player council, indicated in March that the players would prefer the World Team Cup to be run by the ATP. He cited the time of year and potentially greater financial rewards as advantages.
Kermode is very aware of the feelings of the players, and no doubt the frustration of some at the length of the process. It is two months now since we were told there were just a few last details to be finalised.
“It’s been an incredibly convoluted and complex process,” said Kermode. “There have been so many people involved in the sport who feel very passionate about this.
“It is down to the players – the players have got to support one or the other, and see where we’ll go. So I think the next few months are going to be quite exciting.”
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