quentinWorld Cup of Tennis Proposal
August 31st 2010 04:10
Tennis has been through some very interesting times. Obviously the days when you had Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and co were the heydays of tennis and today you have the great rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal which generates so much interest.
One event though that makes tennis really special is the Davis Cup. Every year you see the best 16 nations compete to win this prestigous trophy while you have many other nations seeking to work their way through the various tiers of cup competition
This, along with the rest of the tennis schedule could all be thrown into chaos if James Hird and sports entertainment company Gemba get their way.
As reported in today's Herald Sun, James Hird is on his way to New York to push forward his proposal for a World Cup style event for tennis. A proposal which could potentially destroy the Davis Cup and numerous other tournaments
So what exactly does this proposal involve?
- 32 teams
- 10 days of competition
- Each team divided into groups before top 2 of each group go to knockout round
- 25 seconds between each point
- Tiebreaks to be reduced to first to 5
- Best of 5 sets
- Enforced substitutions with teams having to field a minimum of 2 players per tie
- Held every 2 years
As a sports fan, I am definately open to new concepts and proposals such as this. Each sport is required to continue to expand and develop and come up with something new to ensure that it remains relevant in the marketplace. Cricket would be the best example of this in that they introduced 20/20 cricket and managed to set up world championships and leagues related to this format to ensure that it remained relevan with the only downside being the impact on the 50-over version of the gamet.
However, the downside is that this proposal is looking at ditching a traditional element of the tennis calander (Davis Cup) and as someone who also believes in tradition, this may not be the greatest move. It's true, there have been some negative comments on the Davis Cup in that it impacts on a players year and that the scheduling is notoriously poor.
In terms of this proposal, the fact that it's every 2 years is always a good thing but there are several questions that still have to be answered
- How does this World Cup impact on players workload?
- How does this World Cup impact on the scheduling of current tournaments at all levels?
- How can this World Cup ensure that tennis continues to develop at all levels, attracting grassroots interest?
- How does this World Cup benefit the minor countries, who rely heavily on the Davis Cup as their main source of income?
- Is the World Cup really a better option than Davis Cup and why?
- What's the financial benefits of the World Cup for tennis?
If these questions were answered to the satisfaction of myself, many tennis fans and tennis administrators, I might change my tune
At this point in time though and with the fear that the Davis Cup could wither and die, I remain very skeptical
One event though that makes tennis really special is the Davis Cup. Every year you see the best 16 nations compete to win this prestigous trophy while you have many other nations seeking to work their way through the various tiers of cup competition
This, along with the rest of the tennis schedule could all be thrown into chaos if James Hird and sports entertainment company Gemba get their way.
As reported in today's Herald Sun, James Hird is on his way to New York to push forward his proposal for a World Cup style event for tennis. A proposal which could potentially destroy the Davis Cup and numerous other tournaments
So what exactly does this proposal involve?
- 32 teams
- 10 days of competition
- Each team divided into groups before top 2 of each group go to knockout round
- 25 seconds between each point
- Tiebreaks to be reduced to first to 5
- Best of 5 sets
- Enforced substitutions with teams having to field a minimum of 2 players per tie
- Held every 2 years
As a sports fan, I am definately open to new concepts and proposals such as this. Each sport is required to continue to expand and develop and come up with something new to ensure that it remains relevant in the marketplace. Cricket would be the best example of this in that they introduced 20/20 cricket and managed to set up world championships and leagues related to this format to ensure that it remained relevan with the only downside being the impact on the 50-over version of the gamet.
However, the downside is that this proposal is looking at ditching a traditional element of the tennis calander (Davis Cup) and as someone who also believes in tradition, this may not be the greatest move. It's true, there have been some negative comments on the Davis Cup in that it impacts on a players year and that the scheduling is notoriously poor.
In terms of this proposal, the fact that it's every 2 years is always a good thing but there are several questions that still have to be answered
- How does this World Cup impact on players workload?
- How does this World Cup impact on the scheduling of current tournaments at all levels?
- How can this World Cup ensure that tennis continues to develop at all levels, attracting grassroots interest?
- How does this World Cup benefit the minor countries, who rely heavily on the Davis Cup as their main source of income?
- Is the World Cup really a better option than Davis Cup and why?
- What's the financial benefits of the World Cup for tennis?
If these questions were answered to the satisfaction of myself, many tennis fans and tennis administrators, I might change my tune
At this point in time though and with the fear that the Davis Cup could wither and die, I remain very skeptical
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Comment by Second Serve
Tennis
Second Serve
A World Cup would broaden tennis horizons, and make it more appealing to people who support their country rather than just one player. But I agree with you though, the Davis Cup feels like its been around since the dinosaurs, it would be a pity if it to stop.