DTB Sports Director Speaks on Davis Cup Reforms and Wild Cards
Klaus Eberhard, the Sports Director at DTB (the German Tennis Federation) has added his voice to the growing chorus of players and officials who are not happy with the new format of the Davis Cup.
In an interview to Tennisnet, Eberhard was asked about his impressions of the Davis Cup and says, "First of all, it was amazing how the playing fixtures were made. It is not feasible to play three rounds twice a day. They played until three or four in the morning. We were fortunate that we had twice the morning meetings. Regardless, I believe the 18-team event is too compact in a week. This is, of course, an away game for all non-Spanish teams. It was poorly attended. It had some weaknesses. The old Davis Cup is definitely not there anymore. It is another competition."
Eberhard also revealed that Germany had applied for one of the two wildcards for next year and while he thought one of the wildcards would go to Serbia due to the presence of Novak Djokovic, he was surprised that the second wild card went to the French team. "The DTB has applied for the wildcard. We thought that Serbia would get one because of Novak Djokovic. Because we assume that they would want to have Djokovic in the competition as a player. For the second wildcard, I would have thought that it would go to Austria, because of Dominic Thiem. I do not know why France got it. Now, we have a home game against Belarus. It is certainly nice that we can play at home. And I hope with Alexander Zverev plays even if the scheduling may be a bit complicated."
Eberhard also said that they had worked with the juniors in German tennis, resulting in an increase in the number of German juniors playing in the upcoming Australian Open as compared to the US Open earlier this year. "We have certainly been underrepresented in recent years. We'll be in Australia with six or seven players, maybe eight. That's because we have responded in the past one or two years and looked after the 15- and 16-year-old internationally much better since we have found the connection. But that is very costly for parents and national associations. The fact that we have been in federal funding for some years now gives us a lot more opportunities at the DTB."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2rCikqQ
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