Hewitt slams Davis Cup shake-up as a ‘money grab’

SYDNEY: Furious Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt has slammed a proposed shake-up of the competition as a “money-grabbing” exercise that will ruin the century-plus tennis event.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty should resign if the plan fails to receive a two-thirds majority at the organisation’s general meeting in August.

The ITF last month unveiled plans for a 25-year, US$3 billion partnership with investment group Kosmos, founded by Barcelona football star Gerard Pique, to revamp the current format.It would see the Davis Cup reduced to a season-ending World Cup of Tennis Finals featuring 18 nations.

Currently, it is structured around a 16-nation World Group, contested over four weekends during the year. The remaining countries are then divided into three regional zones.

“There are a lot of people who are frustrated by it and see this as a money-grab. It is a money deal,” Hewitt, his country’s most successful Davis Cup player, told The Australian newspaper Friday.“It is all about money, not representing your country. It makes absolutely no sense.”

He vowed to do all he could to safeguard the competition, making clear he was “totally against” the changes.“The (proposed) competition is not the Davis Cup. You can’t call this the Davis Cup,” he said.