MADRID: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) along with its organizers Kosmos Tennis, have confirmed that it has renamed the annual Davis Cup competition as ‘Davis Cup, The World Cup of Tennis’.
French banking firm BNP Paribas, which has been the tournament’s prominent title sponsor since 2002, will no longer remain in that capacity. However, the brand has confirmed that it will now shift its focus on supporting women’s and junior tennis. This means that its title sponsorship for the Fed Cup, Junior Fed Cup, Junior Davis Cup and the wheelchair event World Team Cup will remain.
BNP Paribas head of communications Bertrand Cizeau stated: “We decided with the ITF to conclude the ‘Davis Cup by BNP Paribas’ partnership as the competition’s format evolves. During 17 years, we have been happy to be alongside fans, players and local audiences, all around the world, and to have fueled their passion during unforgettable matches.
“We wish the best for the next phase of this competition and are keen to continue to develop our action, together with the ITF, for women and junior tennis players. BNP Paribas’ engagement in tennis is a long-lasting story of more than 45 years, and we are fully committed to continue to support and leverage tennis in all its forms and around the world, with more than 1,000 tournaments – professional and amateur – 2,000 clubs and 20 international federations.”
ITF President David Haggerty added: “BNP Paribas has made a vast contribution to the success of Davis Cup as title sponsor over the past 17 years. We are proud of the great work we have achieved together for Davis Cup, and we look forward to continuing our relationship across a number of properties from the grassroots to the top of the game. “As for BNP Paribas, encouraging junior and female tennis are key in our mission to promote equal opportunities on and off the court – for instance with the Gender Equality Committee that we created in 2017.”
BNP Paribas enhanced its engagement for young players in 2018 and 2019 with the launch of three young tennis talent programs, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (‘BNP Paribas Young Talent Team’), John and Patrick McEnroe (‘BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team’) and Yannick Noah, through his charity organisation ‘Fête le Mur’ (‘BNP Paribas Kids Fête le Mur Team’).
Through these programs, BNP Paribas will support no less than 50 young hopefuls in 2019 in order to help them reach the highest level of competition.
