Exhibition platforms of the Tennis world
The global inter-nation Tennis competition, the Davis Cup (DC) is played in 5 Groups. Only countries in the top Group, known as the ‘World Group’, are eligible to win the DC. This year’s finals for the DC will be in late November between France and Belgium. For all others, winning the Group means promotion upwards. The weak are relegated. DC has been the exhibition platform of a nation’s strength in Tennis.
Last weekend Belgium beat Australia and France beat Serbia in the DC semifinals World Group. For France, Tsonga pulled out a big win and for Belgium, their No.1 David Goffin ranked 12 in the world, came out very strong. Most of this news, except in Belgium and France, did not find itself into the leading sports pages of the world. Such is the fate of the DC now. This is simply because it is not an event with the best players of the world anymore.
End of an era
It is the trend now for the better players not to play for their countries, but focus on the professional circuit. It is a burning question of our time. The professional era of Tennis, which began in 1969, has developed into a multifaceted web. While it certainly has made Tennis interesting by being ‘Open’, meaning permitting professionalism, it has also made old institutions redundant and ineffective. With this shifting control, exhibition type of events have been popping up. The Laver Cup (LC) is on now. It is another new event in the Tennis Calendar.
Tennis is said to have its antiquity dating back to the Egyptian court. That is 7,000 years ago. In 1900, when the DC began, modern Tennis in the country of its origin England was already over 30 years old. The DC, in a way, was the introduction of Tennis on a global scale. It increased the ‘Tennis fan base’. Meaning, even people who did not play the game had an interest, as their nation was involved.
As we have Fed Cup, Hopman Cup and others, the current ‘LC’ has a revolutionary format. It is making the European continent an entity and pitting it against the rest of the world. Basically, 4 continents against 1. It is named after legendary Australian player Rod Laver who achieved the coveted Grand Slam feat in 1963 and 1969. No one has done it after that.
Over the years, apart from championships which are conducted according to the rules of the governing bodies, professional exhibition matches were played all the time in different formats. Until the ‘Open’ era began in the late 60′s, exhibition matches were the livelyhood of professional players.
Why Laver Cup
The LC, in a way, overcomes the defects of the DC. Today, even in the Grand Slam events, not every match is between two good players. People attending these events can be disappointed with a poor match, and TV will not entertain them. A match between good players is a high end spectacle, but its occurrence is becoming rare. Often we see empty grandstands due to this.
In many countries, even the finals of Nationals does attract spectators, as it did in the 60’s and 70′s. Many consider this year’s US Open Women’s final a disappointment. Both were first time finalists and Madison Keys could not come out of her shell to perform. Sloane Stephens literally walked past to win the title. The stake was too big in terms of prestige and money. This shocked Keys.
The Exhibition platform
Today, there are too many sporting events formatted to the TV audience, almost singularly. In the LC played in Prague this year, tickets to the event also include high end hotel accommodation and social events. All this gives glamour and it is the formula for TV– the Hollywood and Bollywood scenario.
The 2 team Captains of the LC are well known past players with amazing records. Sweden’s Bjorn Borg is leading the ‘European team’ and USA’s John McEnroe is leading the ‘Rest of the World team’. They have appointed Patrick McEnroe to assist his brother John, while Thomas Enquist, another Swedish stalwart, to assist Borg. Best, interesting and appealing players seem the criteria for player selection. Event has its own scoring format.
Traditional Tennis scoring can make a match into a 6-hour battle between 2 players. The argument for it is to keep Tennis as a sport with Greek’s sporting values. That is skillful, strong, enduring physically and mentally. Unfortunately, the global TV stations do not want this now. Their appeal is for winners, unusual skills, audience and glamour. Excitement is what they want.
Mega management
According to available information, 4 Groups have their input into LC. One of it is the management company of Maestro Roger Federer. Knowing him, he will not trade the ‘skill of Tennis’ for others. If the standards are held, the LC could edge out the DC to become an awaited event.
-George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Federation; National coach Sri Lanka and Brunei, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– contact 94 77 544 8880 geodano2015@gmail.com –