Rafael Nadal had a lot of influence on new Davis Cup format - Pique
In an interview to El Pais, the Davis Cup investor Gerard Pique commented on Rafael Nadal backing the new Davis Cup format. The Spaniard will play the finals in Madrid from 18 to 24 November providing he is injury-free. "With him, everything went well, he had a lot of influence throughout the process. He helped me a lot to understand the world of tennis and its codes, the interest of every player. He was in favour of innovating and fitting to new times since the beginning. We think he likes it", said Pique. Asked about players' thoughts on the new format, he added: "The majority is in favour. When you have a player who is against it, that turns popular but in general, it's not like this. Look at Rafa Nadal and many other players. You have countries like France, very traditional ones, that struggle to accept the change, but in general, they are in favour because they get helped in handling the schedule."
The FC Barcelona defender also spoke about the Spanish Tennis Federation: "It was a process and we had to convince them that less by less it was the best one. They were saying that over the last ten years they had earned a lot of money holding home ties, but we made them understand that there is just one Rafa and that with him we benefited a lot, but in the following generation there is not anyone like him, so the normal thing is that the Federation suffers if you do not create a strong long term competition. In the end, they understood it and they support us. We are a Spanish group and we wanted them to be with us."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Yoyzm8
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