The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced this Friday the cancellation of the Finals of both the Davis Cup and the 2020 Federation Cup, the male and female competitions by country, considering that their celebration was not safe given the current situation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Davis is postponed to the week of November 22 to 28, 2021 at the Caja Mágica in Madrid, on hard court, and the Fed Cup will be held from April 13 to 18, 2021 on clay on the covered tracks of the Laszlo Papp Arena from Budapest (Hungary). This second venue will not be available later this yearAnd that is another reason why the suspension of the event has been agreed, in which the twelve best women's teams in the world were going to meet, who will keep their place and table for the April 2021 finals.
The decision to postpone the Davis Cup Finals was made after three months of analysis and review of the difficult retop that was involved in terms of logistics and health regulations. “It is a great disappointment to all of us that the Davis Cup Finals are not held in 2020. We do not know how the situation will develop in each classified nation, or if the restrictions in Spain will remain relaxed enough. It is impossible to predict the situation in November and guarantee the safety of those who travel to Madrid. This postponement has no long-term relationship to our collective ambitions for the Davis Cup. The ITF and Kosmos Tennis hope to offer an outstanding championship in 2021, when it is safe and feasible to do so, “said Gerard Piqué., the president of Kosmos, the organizing company. “This is a difficult decision to make, but hosting an international team event on this scale and ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved poses too great a risk. It is a complex task and we have made the decision now to provide certainty to players, national federations and fans. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Kosmos Tennis to deliver a fantastic competition next year, ”said David Haggerty, ITF President. It will be the eleventh year in the history of the competition, since 1900, in which there will be no champion. The others were deserted due to the great World Wars, between 1915 and 1918, and 1940 and 1945. The Federation Cup had never been canceled since its premiere in 1963.
The 24 World Group I and World Group II Playoffsthat were due to be played next September in local-visiting format, and in which 48 nations participated, have been postponed to 2021 and will be played in March or September. The regional qualifiers for Group III and IV, in which 76 national teams participate, have also been postponed to 2021. As for the Federation Cup, The four 2020 regional phases to be played (two events in Group II of America, one in Group II of Asia / Oceania and Group III of Europe / Africa) will now be played in 2021, with dates to be announced until in due time. “In these extraordinary times, we believe the best way forward to protect the health and safety of all involved and to better respect the integrity of competition is to extend this year's Fed Cup to 2021,” said Haggerty.