Davis Cup backer Gerard Pique has given his opinion on the reason behind Roger Federer’s criticism of the Davis Cup and he thinks it is to do with the Laver Cup.
Barcelona’s former defender Pigue’s investment company Kosmos has signed up for a $3 billion contract for 25-year-long rights to the competition and revamped it in a never-seen-before avatar. The first edition of this revamped competition finished on Sunday with Rafael Nadal’s Spain lifting the trophy but there were issues that Pique will need to address if the new format has to survive in the longer term.
Federer has been one of the critics of the new format and while his country Switzerland did not qualify for the finals, there was a strong chance he might not have been representing them even if they did make it through to the finals week.
The Spaniard footballer reckons Federer’s reluctance to embrace the Davis Cup in its current format could be down to multiple reasons but one of them is the Laver Cup. Laver Cup is a Ryder Cup-styled, Team Europe versus Team World rivalry that was created by Federer’s management company, TEAM8 in conjunction with Jorge Paulo Lemann, a Brazilian businessman and Tennis Australia.
Pique said Federer is looking to protect the Laver Cup brand which is why he might not have played in the Davis Cup finals even if Switzerland had gotten through.
The Spaniard, who called Federer his idol since he was a child said:
“For a lot of reasons, some of them I know and some of them maybe I don’t know, the situation is this one. He has Laver Cup and, obviously, it’s his baby, his competition, and he wants to protect and obviously to create as big as possible this exhibition. And I totally understand.”
Pique who had earlier called the Davis Cup a “project of my life”, also added he wanted to take the competition to another level following a history that has lasted 119 year.
What will be interesting to see if Pique and his management look at make any changes to the format after the organisers found it tough to sell tickets for the tournament for matches not involving the hosts and Great Britain.
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