MADRID: The International Tennis Federation (ITF), the game’s apex governing body announced Thursday that Spain’s Madrid will be host city of the first two editions of the revamped Davis Cup finals competition in 2019 and 2020. Madrid was chosen ahead of French city, Lille.
The 2019 event will take place at the iconic La Caja Mágica, located in Madrid’s Parque Lineal del Manzanares. The venue will see the 118-year-old competition entering a new phase, welcoming 18 nations and the world’s best players to compete for the prestigious Davis Cup trophy next year. La Caja Mágica and the WiZink Center are both under consideration to stage the event in 2020.
La Caja Mágica has established itself as a globally-recognised top class tennis venue. It is comprised of three main show courts while the complex around the main site also includes several indoor and outdoor courts. The WiZink Center also has extensive experience hosting major sport and entertainment events.
The finals will be hosted in partnership with the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, the city’s council, and the Comunidad de Madrid, the regional governing body.
ITF president David Haggerty said: “We are delighted to be bringing the 2019 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas finals to Madrid. The city is a fitting location to stage the highest quality tennis and great entertainment for thousands of fans from all over the world. We look forward to working with the city to realise our ambitions of elevating the Davis Cup to a new level. On behalf of the Steering Committee we thank the Ayuntamiento de Madrid and the Comunidad de Madrid, as well as Lille for their excellent proposals and professionalism during the selection process.”
The Davis Cup finals will take place in a group-stage format over the first four days, with the countries divided into six groups of three teams. Each tie will consist of three matches – two singles and one doubles – of best-of-three sets. The six group winners and the two second-placed teams with the best records will qualify for the knock-out quarter-finals. The teams placed 5th to 16th will compete in the following year’s qualifiers, while the teams placed 17th and 18th will be relegated to their respective zone Groups.
