Lleyton Hewitt: 'Not sure how Davis Cup finals will work, I'm against it'
The Australian men's tennis squad had a great weekend in Adelaide, defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-0 in Davis Cup Qualifiers to book the place at Davis Cup finals in Madrid in November where they will fight for the title with 17 other nations. The Australian Tennis Federation, the captain and players were among the loudest opponents of the new Davis Cup format with the best-of-three matches, just two rounds during the season and a possibility to stay away from the home ties for years. John Millman and Alex de Minaur delivered the opening points against the Bosnians on Friday, scoring 6-3, 6-2 and 6-3, 7-6 wins over Damir Dzumhur and Mirza Basic before Jordan Thompson and John Peers sealed the deal with a doubles triumph that propelled Australia over the top.
Alexei Popyrin had a chance to make Davis Cup debut in the third singles rubber, beating Nerman Fatic for the first win in the national colors and a special moment of his young career. Despite a great performance of his team, Lleyton Hewitt still has a lot of doubts about the Davis Cup finals that will take place at the end of the season in Madrid, repeating it wasn't the best decision for the competition and that it kills the best features of this fantastic event. Playing for his country for almost 20 years, Hewitt is the ultimate Davis Cup warrior with 59 wins from 43 ties he entered overall since making a debut in 1999.
He mentioned that special feeling he had with the teammates during every tie, sharing the locker room together and making that extra bond that made them even bigger friends on and off the court. Now, he is not sure how everything will work in Madrid and where they are going to find a separate locker room for 18 squads, among other vital issues that have not been answered so far before the very-first edition of Davis Cup finals with 18 teams fighting for the title.
"I don't think they know what they are doing," Hewitt said. "I strongly disagree with it. I don't think it's the best thing for the competition and it's not from what the Davis Cup is meant to be about. It's taking away all the great things - the home and away ties and the best of five sets. I used to go to Davis Cup ties as a kid and you would dream of playing in that situation. And I played massive ties home and away, some of my greatest memories are the away ties because you actually come together closer because there's nothing else you have to deal with apart from hanging out with your teammates.
I actually think you get a stronger bond from a lot of those ties. It's going to be a totally different set-up, like whether you get your own locker rooms for each team, 18 countries? How the hell is that going to work? There so many question marks that I don't agree with ... I'm intrigued as to how it's going to work."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2SjizCH
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