"Davis Cup stinks — the format stinks now. It sucks for the guys" - Former tennis stars give brutal assessment over current Davis Cup format

The Davis Cup format has come under intense scrutiny recently. Many tennis fans, pundits and former players have shared and voiced their negative thoughts over it. Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, Steve Johnson and John Isner all agreed that the old format was much better.

The format changed back in 2019, with home and away ties abolished at the business end of the events. It took out a big part of the Davis Cup for the fans, having an effect on the atmosphere while the congested tennis calendar had prevented some of the stars of the sport from attending to this year's finals. The four American's discussed this on the Nothing Major Show.

Johnson gave a very brutal assessment of the current format. "Horrible. It's pretty brutal. I think especially for fans, it's horrible. It's awful," he ruthlessly stated. "Davis Cup stinks — the format stinks now. It sucks for the guys. You guys know how much fun we had those weeks: you get there, you play one tie, three out of five, Friday–Saturday–Sunday. I thought it was just great fellowship with your team, which you don’t often get to do because everything’s individual. I loved those weeks."

He was very much for the old format with home and away ties. "Now it's just so segmented. You never know if you're getting a home tie, if you’re away. You make a finals — it's a neutral site," he said. "I don't know. The Davis Cup should have home ties. That’s it. I fully believe they should have home ties. Do it every two years, every three years — I don't care. But we’ve got to find a way to get back to the old format. Everyone feels the same way, even the players. Enough."

Querrey made a very important point about Italy's two star players not featuring despite them being the two-time reigning champions and the Finals being hosted in Bologna. "Musetti not playing. It's in Italy — in Bologna — and Sinner and Musetti are not playing," he stated in a shock manner. "That just goes to show you the format is pretty broken, that their top two players aren’t playing this week in Italy." Isner backed his argument up. "If I asked you right now to name the eight countries in the Davis Cup, you could probably guess four, but we wouldn’t really know. I'd have to go look — you have to see which guys are even playing. The guys just don't care. They’ve got to do it every other year. Once a year every other year."

Former Davis Cup semi-finalist Sock reminisced on the travelling when he played in the old format. "It was Australia, then come back and play Delray, New Orleans, Miami — and then go back to Australia," he said. Despite that, however, he was very much in favour of a return to the old format.

"But the old format? Obviously I completely agree — way better," he admitted. "Even away ties were fun. You had the fellowship with the team — playing cards, team dinners. Home ties were a blast. We'd get solid crowds. We had traditions with the team. The whole vibe was really fun. You knew you were there for the week, the long weekend, and you knew what you were trying to do throughout the year. I didn’t even know Davis Cup was going on after the Finals. It’s too much now. I miss the old Davis Cup — the days were awesome."

Querrey concluded by talking about the atmospheres, as he unveils his distaste for the neutral audiences. "And the home crowds were so good. With this neutral-site atmosphere, it's terrible. The whole allure of Davis Cup was seeing that home crowd get behind their guys," he stated. "Yes, Italy will get behind their team, but it's one site for eight teams — a neutral atmosphere."

The final of the Davis Cup is between the six-time winners Spain and the reigning champions Italy. They will lock horns on Sunday, 23rd November with a prestigious trophy on the line. Find the results and schedule from this year’s Davis Cup Finals here.