Feliciano Lopez hits out at Stan Wawrinka and other critics of the Davis Cup for double standards amid accusations of paid fans

Davis Cup changed its format in 2019 and it has been subjected to severe criticism from both fans and players ever since.

Feliciano Lopez hits out at Stan Wawrinka and other critics of the Davis Cup for double standards amid accusations of paid fans

(L) Stan Wawrinka; (R) Feliciano Lopez (Sources: ATP Tour/Puntodebreak)

Swiss international Stan Wawrinka recently ‘exposed’ the ITF’s (International Tennis Federation) attempts to pay spectators to fill the stadiums during the Davis Cup matches. He shared a video of completely empty stands during a match and leveled these serious allegations. The Davis Cup was originally considered to be a tournament of utmost value, but after its controversial format change back in 2019, the tournament has apparently lost its luster. 

After the major allegation that was levied by Stan Wawrinka, tournament director Feliciano Lopez had to turn up and address them in his recent interview, where he called it a mere attempt to unnecessarily defame the tournament. He said that it is a bad example as the video was taken at 3:00 PM on a Wednesday. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzGW0KaB118&pp=ygUlRmVsaWNpYW5vIExvcGV6IGRhdmlzIGN1cCBjb250cm92ZXJzeQ%3D%3D

“This topic is very complicated. To begin with, on a Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., in any city in the world where the game is played, it is very difficult to fill a stadium, unless you have a megastar like Alcaraz or Djokovic,” the tournament director said.

FS Video

“The other trick is for the local country to play, as happened the other day in Manchester with 12,000 people. Nobody uploaded that photo, they only put the photo of when no one is there,” Feliciano Lopez further elaborated. (H/T: Puntodebreak)

As for Wawrinka’s Switzerland, their hopes of making it to the Final 8 are almost over. They are at the bottom of Group B’s table, behind Great Britain, Australia, and France. Wawrinka’s team has lost all three of their matches and it is a shockingly poor performance that they dropped. 

Read More: Carlos Alcaraz defeating Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon finals showcased his elite maturity and competitiveness says Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill

Feliciano Lopez cedes to the possibility of ‘evolving’ the current Davis Cup format 

Despite stating bluntly that Stan Wawrinka’s claim that the Davis Cup pays fans to watch the matches is completely rubbish, Feliciano Lopez has agreed that less attendance in the stadiums is a problem with the new format and they are trying to fix it. He said that currently only the home fans are coming in to cheer for their teams and the traveling team should not have to play in a fan-less stadium. Thus, the Davis Cup is open to changing its current format. However, he also mentioned that it is not so easy. 

Feliciano Lopez
Feliciano Lopez (Source: ATP Tour)

“I understand that it shouldn’t be like that. That is why we are open to continuing to evolve with this format so that this happens as little as possible. But it is not so easy,” said the Spaniard. 

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