There is no point in having two men’s team tennis competitions, Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic said yesterday, suggesting that the new ATP Cup should merge with the Davis Cup.
The ATP Cup opens its inaugural edition today, replacing a number of previous Australian Open warmup tournaments with the new round-robin competition.
It comes six weeks after the revamped Davis Cup, which also has countries playing each other in a round-robin format, was held in Madrid.
Canadian Denis Shapovalov earlier yesterday suggested that the two events — one run by the men’s tour, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and the other by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) — should combine.
“It’s a really similar event and it’s literally back-to-back from the other one, so it’s a little bit of a weird sensation coming from what felt like the world championships coming to play another world championship,” Shapovalov said.
“So for me, I don’t see why they, the ATP and ITF can’t combine, can’t join, can’t come to some agreement and make just one, really unique and special tournament for everyone,” he added.
When asked about the Canadian’s comments, Djokovic, head of the ATP Player Council, agreed.
“We need to have one Super World Cup event, whatever you want to call it,” Djokovic said. “That’s not going to happen next year as well, but if the two sides, the ITF, the Davis Cup and the ATP get together very quickly, it can happen possibly for 2022.”
“I hope it will happen, because it’s kind of hard to get top players to commit to play both events — the Davis Cup and the ATP Cup,” he said. “And it’s six weeks apart, so they’re not really helping each other in terms of marketing, in terms of the value of the event.”
Djokovic’s concerns were shared by France’s Nicolas Mahut, who said that having two men’s team competitions was “too much.”
“Obviously, we don’t need two competitions the same way. Two team competitions is too much,” he said.
Djokovic does not normally play in Australia before the year’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne, but he will use the ATP Cup to prepare for his attempt to win an eighth Australian Open crown.
“The Australian Open courts, Melbourne Park was always very suitable to my game, and I can’t wait to go back there,” he said. “Obviously, that’s probably my most successful court in my career, in my life, so I love playing there.”
Djokovic’s first match in the ATP Cup is to be against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson tomorrow.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about £2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from