The tennis world is waiting with bated breath to see if the Davis Cup will retain its age-old charm.
For 118 years, the famous team competition in tennis has produced some of the most dramatic 'home and away' battles.
Backed by vociferous, flag-waving home fans, unheralded players often get inspired to bring the giants of the game to their knees.
But such David vs Goliath epics could soon be a thing of the past if the delegates at the International Tennis Federation's annual meeting on Thursday give the green light to ITF chief David Haggerty's proposal of turning the Davis Cup into a one-week season-ending affair at a neutral venue.
While some stars have welcomed the proposal as they feel it would ease the pressure on players in a cramped schedule, others have slammed ITF's plan.
Australian greats Rod Laver, John Newcombe and Lleyton Hewitt didn't mince words when reporters sought their opinion.
Newcombe, a five-time Davis Cup winner, even called it 'a recipe for the death of the Davis Cup'.
When Khaleej Times spoke to Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes on the planned Davis Cup changes, the two Indian icons also offered contrasting views.
Paes was pragmatic while talking about a tournament that saw some of the most stirring underdog wins from him.
"I think this is a good plan. Davis Cup is too long in the year," said the 45-year-old Paes, who became the most successful Davis Cup doubles player in April this year when he recorded his 43rd win during the World Group playoffs against China.
"In the existing format, you are playing in February after the Australian Open, then you have to go to Brazil for a Davis Cup tie, it's so far away. You have to go from one end of the world to the other. Then again in July and then again in September. And for the two countries that get to the final, again in November," he said.
"So it's just spread out too much and so I think it's a smart move by ITF. The reason that they are tying to do that I believe is because lot of the players are getting tired playing such a long season and then suddenly playing Davis Cup and in those three days you have got to play best of five sets.
"For some of us, I have played all three matches - Friday, Saturday and Sunday - for 18 years. It's crazy. It really wears you out so I think it's a smart move," said Paes whose heroics helped India reach the Davis Cup semifinal in 1993.
But Amritraj, arguably India's greatest singles player who reached the Davis Cup final twice in his career, felt the competition would lose its charm in a neutral venue.
"You need to continue to show importance to Davis Cup, the way we have all seen it because when Thailand plays Pakistan it's important to have that match. You can't have that match in some other country. So I think those home and away matches are important," Amritraj said.
"You cannot have Davis Cup over one week period where two countries playing each other in a third country means nothing in that particular city. You need to have the home and away format," he added.
Amritraj is also not happy with the plan to make Davis Cup matches best of three sets affairs.
"It should be five sets. But yes I completely agree with the fact that by the time you finish Davis Cup final in December, you have to start again in February. I agree with that, but at the same time, it only happens to the two guys who played in the final. They are the ones who have to come back and play in February," he said.
Amritraj then said what ITF could have done to ease the burden on players without making radical changes to the Davis Cup format.
"They could have planned to run it every two years to compensate the guys who play too many matches in the calendar year," he said.
"This would allow group one teams to play every year and the eight countries that move up to the world group can qualify for the following year. This would allow world group teams to play once every two years. That perhaps would have been a good option."
Copyright © 2018 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
