indiana wrote:

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Stircrazy wrote:

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From the Beeb's live text commentary:

Novak Djokovic wants the Davis Cup knockout phase to travel around the world and not just be confined to Spain.  Since a revamp of the men's team event in 2019, the final stages of the tournament have always been played in Spanish cities.

"This is a competition that is played globally," Djokovic said.  "It shouldn't stay in one place more than a year."

Eight nations have been competing in the week-long event, but Spain failed to qualify.

The Davis Cup, which started in 1900, used to be played in a home-and-away format, often creating a partisan atmosphere, but regularly missing top players.

& a few minutes later:

So, Novak Djokovic fancies a change of scenery, but could the Davis Cup move back to home and away ties?

Some of the players fancy it. World number 12 Alex de Minaur made his debut for Australia in a five-set thriller against Germany's Alexander Zverev at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane in February 2018.

"In a heartbeat I would want the competition to go back to what it used to be," he said.  "I was lucky enough to get a taste of what home and away ties meant. I was able to make my debut at home in front of a packed Brisbane crowd - to this day it still gives me goosebumps."

But International Tennis Federation (ITF) president, David Haggerty, said the home and away format "is not going to work".  "It would not be a good competition if we went back to only home and away. Sometimes the loudest voices aren't always the majority," he said.

 

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 The trouble is probably how loud Haggerty and co's voices are. Hate tte format. Yes, home & away in a heartbeat, Alex. 

Gopd effort from our guys but 4 sets of tennis, over and out in Not the Davis Cup.

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I agree with Djoko though, if it has to be this format, it cant be in Spain every year; it must be moved around venues. And not the middle east !  

9vicman wrote:

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Bob in Spain wrote:

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Another reason to dislike this format with a vengeance. The doubles guys fly out, train all week, psyche themselves up, we fly out the world's best doubles coach and now they all travel home again without setting a foot on court in anger. Doubles is completely devalued.

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Yes agreed. And of course doubles used to be a pivotal rubber played on the Saturday. The event has been luck this year to have had three of four doubles as the deciding point.

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 Each tie has been won by the team winning the number one singles match. in a 3 rubber match, a good number one who can also play doubles well is an advantage that was less evident in the old 5 rubber format. I think a strong number one is key. 

Ments how nobody on here is discussing Djokovic showing himself up as the berk he is tonight, despite it being a rare non-Wimbledon occasion where tennis makes the national headlines.

JonH comes home wrote:

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Jeff Stelling wrote:

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Ments how nobody on here is discussing Djokovic showing himself up as the berk he is tonight, despite it being a rare non-Wimbledon occasion where tennis makes the national headlines.

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 what did he do? Didnt see this ? Something about British fans drowning him out with drums when he was interviewed, surely that was on our silly fans? Or did Djoko do something? 

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 immediately after winning 1st set v Cam, Novak was smiling at the British fans and blew a couple of kisses in their direction, so I suspect this may be the reason for drumming over the interview..

-- Edited by Tennpar on Friday 24th of November 2023 12:54:42 AM

Tennpar wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Jeff Stelling wrote:

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Ments how nobody on here is discussing Djokovic showing himself up as the berk he is tonight, despite it being a rare non-Wimbledon occasion where tennis makes the national headlines.

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 what did he do? Didnt see this ? Something about British fans drowning him out with drums when he was interviewed, surely that was on our silly fans? Or did Djoko do something? 

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 immediately after winning 1st set v Cam, Novak was smiling at the British fans and blew a couple of kisses in their direction, so I suspect this may be the reason for drumming over the interview..

-- Edited by Tennpar on Friday 24th of November 2023 12:54:42 AM

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 Personally, that behaviour was poor ( from the British fans and Novak)- at the end of the day we had one chance and that was Jack's match which he lost to a similarly ranked player. Novak won fair and square. I don't like the man, but there is no disputing his tennis. If he is provoked you know he will react and get more headlines, that's why he does it. I wonder if that was a misjudgement and Cam should have played first? Maybe they would have had a better chance of keeping the rubber alive. 

Reading things like Twitter/X and other forums, there has always seemed to be a particular tension between Novak and British tennis fans - we, more than most other countries, seem to have a greater dislike for him as a person and he, as is his nature, fights back against that and the lack of respect he feels he gets from us.

It is just my instinct, but as per this board's general comments on Novak, we do seem to be more inclined to dislike him (his personality is maybe further away from the type of personality Brits generally like) than other countries;

So, I guess, this was always a car crash waiting to happen!

Shhh wrote:

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I'm not a fan of the Ra-Ra Davis Cup type support and in this case, I do think the fans should show a bit of respect top players (even the Novak ones) The guy has one, its his moment, he's being interviewed....what mentality thinks its good to drown it out. Strange people.

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 I agree with you on this. Its a bit of A Gammony Brexity type vibe with a lot of Brits so I suppose as annoying as Novak can be he maybe has a point although I see Andy is throwing a wee bit of discreet shade this morning with a wee tweet thanking them for their support