MÁLAGA/WASHINGTON, November 30, 2022 (by Michael Dickens)
The Davis Cup is poised to keep its current setup featuring group ties followed by an eight-nation Finals. According to leadership from both the ITF and Kosmos, who spoke to reporters just before Canada defeated Australia 2-0 to win its first Davis Cup title in the 122-year history of the tennis team championship in Málaga, Spain Sunday afternoon, the format is an agreeable one which benefits fans, players and tennis.
ITF President David Haggerty and Kosmos CEO Enric Rojas said they both were satisfied with this year’s event, the third since Kosmos successfully bid for the rights to organize the Davis Cup and moved away from its longtime tradition of home-and-away ties played during four weeks spread across the tennis season.
2022 World Champions…@TennisCanada 🏆🇨🇦#DavisCup #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/SKaPfHpf3y
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 27, 2022
After being held in Madrid in 2019 and 2021 (it was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic) under various formats, the competition switched to round-robin group play in September, with the winners qualifying for a single-elimination Finals week in the southern Spanish resort city of Málaga.
The 2023 edition of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals will return to Málaga from Nov. 21-26 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena, which has a seating capacity for tennis of 9,800. Starting next year, the Davis Cup will also be a part of the 2023 ATP Tour calendar (in weeks 5, 37 and 47).
“Well, 2022 has been a very exciting year,” Haggerty said. “I think you can see that we, alongside with Kosmos, we have been able to stabilize the format. It works for the fans, it works for the players, and it certainly works for tennis. We think that that’s great.
“The previous format we found to be a bit confusing for the players and we listened to them, and that’s why we have made the changes that we have.
“Davis Cup continues to play a unique role in tennis. … It has really been an evolution of 122 years, so we are very excited with where we are.”
Get ready for the FINAL 😈@TennisAustralia 🇦🇺 v 🇨🇦 @TennisCanada #DavisCup #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/d6nDvhnSPQ
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 27, 2022
Rojas said he was pleased with the volume of spectators that attended both the group ties in September (112,000) as well as the Davis Cup Finals (63,000) in Málaga. Combined, there were about 175,000 fans that supported the Davis Cup events, up from 105,000 for the 2021 Davis Cup Finals.
“Another very important element is that 21 percent of the people attending Málaga is from outside of Spain,” Rojas said. “Up to 55 (percent) are from outside Andalusia, and the rest are from Andalusia.
“That is a very key example of this split in between September and November of the finals. It allows the fans to travel, to plan flights and hotels here with time, and also for the nations that they have done a very good job to help the tennis fans to plan the trips accordingly.”
Looking ahead to next year, in addition to Málaga hosting the Finals again, Rojas indicated wild card entries Italy and Spain will host two of the group ties with another slotted to be played in Great Britain if it wins its qualifier, with a fourth location to be determined.
Tickets for the Davis Cup by Rakuten Final 8 in Malaga – from 21–26 November 2023 – are now on sale! 🎫
Don’t miss out on the action and excitement in 2023! 🎾#DavisCup #byRakuten #Final8
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 30, 2022
By the numbers
A total of 9,522 fans attended the title final of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals between Australia and Canada in Málaga Sunday afternoon.
This year’s event drew 61,916 spectators to the port city in southern Spain’s Costa del Sol. The highest-attended tie came on Saturday when 9,665 fans watched the Canada versus Croatia semifinal.
“Quotable …”
“The atmosphere. Having, you know, on Thursday morning almost 9,000 people in the arena at 10:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. in the morning means a lot, shows the power of this format, shows what we are doing. So, it’s all very positive.”
– Enric Rojas, CEO of Kosmos Tennis
