Andy Murray joins the likes of Stan Wawrinka and other Davis Cup critics after latest fiasco

Murray blamed the ITF for changing the Davis Cup format without consulting the players.

Andy Murray joins the likes of Stan Wawrinka and other Davis Cup critics after latest fiasco

(L)Gerard Pique; (M) Andy Murray; (R) Stan Wawrinka (via user generated content)

Tennis’ premier team tournament, the Davis Cup, has been subjected to criticism over the past few days. Last week, Stanislas Wawrinka stirred a controversy over the mismanagement of the tournament. The AO arena in Manchester played host to the Group B match between France and Switzerland. The 3-time Grand Slam champion wasn’t amused with the low attendance in the stadium for the encounter. Wawrinka took to ‘X’ to call out the founder of Kosmos, Gerard Pique, over the low attendance.

3-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray is the latest player to jump into the debate. “It is a shame that the meeting between France and Australia, two of the greatest nations in the Davis Cup, was played on Thursday in front of an empty stadium. No one in the council supported this reform, ” said the former world number 1 in comments reported by L’Equipe. Both of the teams are part of Group B, whose matches took place in Manchester. (H/T: welovetennis)

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Great Britain and Australia qualified out of the group, placed 1st and 2nd respectively. Meanwhile, both France and Switzerland were eliminated. Great Britain defeated France in front of a packed crowd to make their place in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup. The doubles pairing of Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match points before winning a nerve-wracking decider to knock out the arch-rivals France.

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Next up, Great Britain will face Novak Djokovic‘s Serbia in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in the Spanish city of Malaga in November.

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What is the Davis Cup controversy?

FC Barcelona legend and Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique‘s company Kosmos signed a deal with ITF in 2019 to organize the Davis Cup. The ITF announced a 25-year plan in a $3 billion partnership with the investment group Kosmos. The federation claimed that the deal will help generate substantial revenue for global tennis development.

Gerard Pique and Novak Djokovic
Gerard Pique and Novak Djokovic (Credit: Getty Images)

The event, to be staged by Kosmos in partnership with the ITF, would feature 18 teams and be played over one week in a world-class location. Instead of the traditional home-and-away ties, the top teams now play group matches in different cities with the Finals staged at one venue.

The deal didn’t work out as expected. In January, this year, the ITF announced the end of the 25-year agreement with Kosmos. A source close to the matter said that the parties failed to reach a new financial agreement. Kosmos took the dispute with the ITF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, citing the “unjustified termination” of its contract. The group also claimed $50 million in damages from the ITF.

The tournament has come under criticism recently from the 3-time Grand Slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka due to the low attendance. The Swiss player called out Pique for the mismanagement. However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has spoken out in defense of the football star. The World No.1 blamed the ITF for the changed format.

Pique claimed that the ITF wasn’t flexible with the financial negotiations following the outbreak of COVID-19.

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