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Pouille sends France into semi-finals

SPAIN 3, GERMANY 2
Venue: Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia, ESP (clay- outdoor)

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer both scored wins on Sunday to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Germany, and book Spain’s place in the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals.

To begin play on Sunday, Nadal forced a decisive fifth rubber by impressively defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a battle between two players inside the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. The Spaniard levelled the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Germany at 2-2 after two hours and 16 minutes, breaking the 20-year-old on six occasions en route to his second three-set win in three days.

Speaking on court after the crucial win, Nadal emphasised the importance of the victory and the special atmosphere inside the Plaza de Toros de Valencia. “It was never going to be easy so I’m very happy to get an important victory for me and the team," reflected Nadal. “I’m very happy with my level, the first set was fantastic in such an important match. It’s a great feeling and very unique to play here in front of my people. It was a great match for me in an unbelievable atmosphere.”

The tie moved to a fifth, decisive rubber and it was there that David Ferrer completed the comeback for Spain, with a marathon four-hour, 51-minute victory over World No. 34 Philipp Kohlschreiber. Ferrer, ranked one place above his opponent in the ATP Rankings, fell to the court on his back after hitting a crosscourt backhand passing shot winner to clinch a 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 win.

Spain has now won its past 27 home Davis Cup ties, dating back to 1999 (l. to Brazil), while Germany’s 11-year wait for another semi-final appearance continues. The five-time champions will travel to France in September, as the team continues its pursuit of the Davis Cup final for the first time in six years.

FRANCE 3, ITALY 1
Venue: Valletta Cambiaso ASD, Genoa, ITA (clay - outdoor)

Lucas Pouille came from a set down to send France into the semi-finals, defeating Fabio Fognini 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-3.

The World No. 11 became just the third player to beat Fognini in a Davis Cup singles match on clay, in a match lasting just over three hours with 13 breaks of serve. France has now won six consecutive Davis Cup ties, two shy of its all-time record win streak from 2000-2002.

“I think I was more consistent over the match. I had a tough first set but I kept trying and was playing better and better and it was a great effort to come back and win this one," Pouille told DavisCup.com. “We knew that before coming here it would be a tough tie, but we gave our best and now we are going to try and defend our title.”

The loss marks Italy’s third successive exit from the team competition at the quarter-finals stage. Italy lost to eventual runner-up Belgium in 2017 and 2016 champion Argentina two years ago.

France will host the winner of the tie between Spain and Germany, from 14-16 September, for a place in the Davis Cup final.

Croatia to host the United States in September's World Group semi-finals

CROATIA 3, KAZAKHSTAN 1
Venue: Varazdin Arena, Varazdin, CRO (clay - indoor)

Croatia reached the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals for the second time in three years after World No. 3 Marin Cilic cruised past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Cilic hit 31 winners to ease past Kukushkin, who scored the visiting nation’s only point on Friday, after two hours and one minute. Since losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2016 final, the Croatian No.1 has won all six matches he has played in the team event.

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The Australian Open finalist improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Kukushkin to 3-1. Croatia has now won six consecutive ties on clay, with its last loss on the surface coming in 2013 against Great Britain.

Kazakhstan still waits for its first semi-final appearance in the competition, after falling in the quarter-finals for the fifth time. Croatia moves into a home semi-final against the United States. The tie will be played from 14-16 September.

USA 4, BELGIUM 0
Venue: Curb Event Center, Nashville, USA (hard - indoor)

Although the American Davis Cup squad had already clinched victory following yesterday’s four-set doubles rubber, Ryan Harrison took to court at the Curb Event Center in Nashville on Sunday, extending his team’s unassailable lead over Belgium to 4-0. The Brisbane finalist defeated Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour.

Belgium, which had made the Davis Cup final in two of the past three seasons, will remain in the World Group in 2019, while the United States will advance to the semi-finals, where they will play Croatia. Croatia.

Earlier in the tie, John Isner and Sam Querrey scored two wins for the American team in their opening singles rubbers, while Harrison and Jack Sock sealed the tie with a doubles triumph. All five Americans on the squad, including Steve Johnson, will be seeded at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship next week in Houston.

Obradujący w Orlando kongres Międzynarodowej Federacji Tenisowej (ITF) przegłosował zmiany w organizacji Pucharu Davisa. Po 118 latach rozgrywki te zostaną poddane gruntownej reformie.
Inicjatorami zmian są obecny prezes ITF David Haggerty i znany hiszpański piłkarz Gerard Pique, założyciel i szef firmy Kosmos. To właśnie ona zainwestuje 3 miliardy dolarów, które "pomogą rozwinąć tenis na całym świecie". Władze Międzynarodowej Federacji Tenisowej podpisały stosowną umowę na 25 lat.
Koniec z klasyczną formułą Pucharu Davisa i meczami rozgrywanymi u siebie lub na wyjeździe w ramach Grupy Światowej. W dniach 18-24 listopada 2019 odbędzie się w Madrycie lub Lille pierwszy turniej finałowy. Co ciekawe, zaledwie miesiąc późnej ruszy premierowa edycja Drużynowego Pucharu Świata. W rozgrywkach pod egidą ATP mają zagrać 24 zespoły.
Natomiast w turnieju finałowym Pucharu Davisa 2019 ma wziąć udział 18 drużyn. 12 zostanie wyłonionych na drodze spotkań eliminacyjnych, które zostaną rozegrane w lutym 2019 roku. Do tego pewne miejsce mają półfinaliści Pucharu Davisa 2018 (Francja, Hiszpania, Chorwacja i USA), a stawkę uzupełnią dwie ekipy z dzikimi kartami.

Aby powyższe propozycje weszły w życie, musiały otrzymać 2/3 poparcia delegatów zebranych na kongresie w Orlando. 71,43 proc. głosów było za zmianami, wśród nich Francja, USA, Hiszpania, Szwajcaria czy kraje Ameryki Południowej i Afryki. Stanowczymi przeciwnikami reformy były Wielka Brytania, Niemcy, Australia i Polska, która z aktualnym rankingiem nie ma szans, by w przyszłym roku powalczyć o miejsce w turnieju finałowym i będzie dalej rywalizować w rozgrywkach kontynentalnych.- Jestem szczęśliwy, że poszczególne kraje zagwarantowały swoimi głosami długoletni status Pucharu Davisa. Dzięki przegłosowanym reformom możemy razem z firmą Kosmos pracować nad realizacją wielkiego potencjału tych rozgrywek i wynieść je na nowe standardy. Nowy turniej stworzy prawdziwy festiwal tenisa i rozrywki, która będzie atrakcyjna dla tenisistów, fanów, sponsorów i nadawców telewizyjnych - powiedział Haggerty.

WHILE unsure of the wisdom of this week’s sweeping Davis Cup reform, Roger Federer has called on tennis officials to make good on promises regarding the new-look competition.

“I feel sad about it, you know, not to have the Davis Cup as it used to be. It will never be the same for the next generation,” the 20-time Grand Slam winner said on Saturday at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.

“I just hope that every penny of that mass of money will be paid for the next generation,” Federer said.

Kosmos, an investment group led by Barcelona football star Gerard Pique with Japanese and Chinese support, will spend $3 billion over 25 years on the new event, which will do away with four rounds at home and away venues around the world throughout the year, culminating with the final between the last two teams standing.

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Federer clinical in Cincinnati
Instead there will be a one-week shoot-out among 18 nations, to be played in November at rotating venues.

With nearly two decades in the game, the 37-year-old Federer has a long memory back to another mega-deal gone wrong which could have seriously damaged the ATP Tour.

“We’ve seen a similar situation way back when with the ATP Tour and it set us back in a big way,” he said. “I don’t want that to happen again.”

That incident in 2000 stemmed from the bankruptcy of the Swiss ISL promotion firm that had promised to pay the Tour $1.2 billion over a decade for the rights to the elite Masters events.

ISL suddenly went bust and the deal never came to fruition, although the ATP recovered nicely to its current dominating state in the men’s game.

Federer won the Davis Cup with Switzerland over France in 2014 and played almost uninterruptedly from his 1999 debut until age 34 in 2015.


Roger Federer.
“Clearly the ITF has never historically involved the players,” he said of the decision. “(The solution) is definitely flawed in some ways.

“I’m all for innovation, and got to give them a chance to some extent. It will be interesting to see how it’s going to work.”

Fellow former number one Novak Djokovic, a member of the 2010 winning Serbia side, shared many of the same Davis Cup sentiments with his Swiss rival but said something had to be done.

“Change was inevitable for the format,” he said, adding that he has supported a format change “15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, and today. So it hasn’t changed.

“I’m really glad that, people of ITF are understanding the urgency of changing the format and the schedule. It was just not right, especially for the top players. In the last 10 years you could see that.

“Very few top players have played consistently in the Davis Cup competition, which was, till recently, the only team, official team competition we have in our sport.”

Originally published as Federer ‘sad’ but hopeful after controversial shake-up.