INDIAN WELLS: The introduction of best-of-three set matches in the Davis Cup won’t be enough to halt the drain of top talent from the 117-year-old world tennis tournament, Rafael Nadal said Friday.
Nadal, who helped Spain to Davis Cup titles in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011, said he had long urged the International Tennis Federation to consider sweeping reforms to the venerable event.
But plans announced this week to reduce rubbers from best-of-five to best-of-three and possibly shorten ties from three to two days don’t go far enough.
“In my opinion it is not about best-of-three or best-of-five,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s about we cannot have a Davis Cup champion every year,” Nadal said.
“That devalues the competition. If the top players are not playing very, very often, then you are making something not good.”
Nadal said that the ITF has too often focused on the “small picture” and was too satisfied to have a Davis Cup final featuring a big name even if top players shied away from earlier rounds because they didn’t dovetail with their tour schedules.
