Beginning of the qualifying round of the Davis Cup from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 February.
After a month of January marked by the Australian Open, the Davis Cup is making a comeback in this first weekend of February with the qualifying round. France must face Hungary in the Tatabánya Multifunctional Arena, an enclosure that can accommodate up to 5,500 people. This 2023 qualifying round will bring together 24 selections. The 12 winning nations will join Canada and Australia (2022 finalists) as well as Italy and Spain (wild-cards) for the 2023 Davis Cup group stage.
For this poster, Sebastien Grosjean decided to summon Arthur Rinderknech, Adrian Mannarino, Benjamin Bonzi and Nicolas Mahut before adding Ugo Humbert as a fifth member. The player who has returned to form in recent weeks could be aligned in the second single from his first selection. Asked by The Team Thursday, February 2, Ugo Humbert talks about a competition that transcends him.
“There is an extra soul with the France jersey. Since I was very young, I have made many selections, all European competitions. The European Championships, the Junior Davis Cup, all that. You want to transcend yourself to the jersey. I like that, yes. We were European champions for 12-year-olds and 16-year-olds. We finished third at the World Championships. I was with Corentin (Moutet) and Geof (Blancaneaux). had a good team! These are only good memories, with moments of sharing with the captain, moments of tension at times. But it was good!
- Friday 03 February
- Both singles from 2 p.m. on beIN SPORTS 2
- Saturday 04 February
- The double follow-up of the last two singles from 12 p.m. on beIN SPORTS 3
What formula for the Davis Cup 2023?
Broken contract with Kosmos. In a rather strange press release at the beginning of January, Dave Haggerty, the president of the ITF, “welcomes the tremendous success of the event for four years” (more money for the nations, for the players, more participation of the best , growing fan interest, etc.)… before writing that the contract with Kosmos is broken. No specific reason was mentioned as indicated by the FFT to The Team. But for a close source, “Kosmos got fired because, as many pundits predicted four years ago, they lost a lot of money and weren’t able to pay what they had. promised”.
For now, the formula decided with Kosmos, including a final phase in Malaga (November 21-26), remains as it is for this year.
What future for the Davis Cup?
“I believe that the Grand Slams must position themselves on the Davis Cup. We are working to federate the four Grand Slams, which are the pillars of the game, and the Davis Cup is part of our heritage. Afterwards, the format is a Another story… We are all going to get together and think about the future of the competition” explained the president of the FFT Gilles Morreton. Still according to L’Equipe, a group stage spread over two years with pools of four, home and away matches in round trip format (three matches in year 1, three matches in year 2); then a final phase in the third year would be under study. In an Olympic year, no Davis Cup but an Olympic team tournament.