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International Tennis Federation Approves Changes in Davis Cup, Fed Cup
The International Tennis Federation, the world governing body in the sport, has approved a series of reforms for the Davis Cup (men) and Federation Cup (women) team competitions.
The ITF Board of Directors, in a meeting at the ITF headquarters in London, England on Wednesday approved the recommendation of the Davis Cup committee to shorten all singles matches to best-of-three sets from best-of-five sets.
The Davis Cup will keep its three-day format and the doubles will still be played on the Saturday of the best-of-five sets.
During the meeting, it was decided that the finalists in both Davis Cup and Federation Cup will be assured the choice of hosting their first-round tie in the following year. The hosting costs of national associations will also be reduced.
The ITF Board will present the reforms for approval during the ITF Annual General Meeting to be hosted by Vietnam’s capital city of Ho Chi Minh in August.
“Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas are two of the most iconic team competitions in sport, but there is no doubt change is needed to ensure that we maximize their full potential. While still needing AGM approval, we are confident that our National Associations will see that to vote for these reforms is to vote for the long-term future of our competitions and our sport,” said ITF President David Haggerty in a statement on the ITF website.
The Davis Cup, which was founded in 1900, is the largest team competition in tennis with 134 countries participating, while 104 countries take part in thee 54-year-old Federation Cup.
The Philippine Davis Cup team is composed of Patrick John Tierro, Albert Lim Jr. and Jeson Patrombon. The members of the Philippine Federation Cup squad are Filipino-German Katharina Lehnert, Khim Iglupas and Ana Clarice Patrimonio. (Jean T. Malanum/PNA)