Madrid to host revamped Davis Cup finals

Madrid: Madrid will host the inaugural Davis Cup finals week next November, organisers have announced.
The event, which will see 18 teams battle it out for the trophy, will be staged at the Caja Magica, the venue for the Madrid Masters in May.
Madrid will also host the event in 2020, with the International Tennis Federation keen to encourage the top players to take part by staging it close to the venue for the preceding week’s ATP Finals at London’s O2 Arena.
Madrid saw off competition from Lille, the host of the final for the last two years. Defending champions France will face Croatia in November in the final of the last edition of the traditional competition.
International Tennis Federation 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.”
Finding a venue with sufficient indoor courts in Europe severely reduced the possible options. The Caja Magica has three indoor courts with capacity for 20,000 spectators while there are further indoor courts that could be used for practice.
The teams will be split into six groups of three, with the group winners and the two best second-placed teams qualifying for the knockout stages.
Six teams have already been confirmed, with this year’s semi-finalists France, Croatia, USA and Spain being joined by wild cards Great Britain and Argentina. The 12 winners of February’s qualifying round will fill the remaining slots.