After what the International Tennis Federation called “a very careful review of all bids received,” Valencia has been chosen as the fourth host city for the Men’s Davis Cup 2022 group matches. Mark Pulley reports…
To be utterly candid, I’m not sure if there were crowds of people waiting to see white smoke puffing out of the chimneys of the ITF headquarters in Roehampton, London, but they are making it sound like it was a tough choice. Which is strange, as the only other country that seemed interested in hosting was France, but they said they simply couldn’t afford it.
“The FFT has decided not to submit a bid in view of the onerous financial and operational conditions, which no potential organiser in the French territory was willing to accept,” said the Fédération Française de Tennis themselves. Any road up, Valencia is now a confirmed host of the Davis Cup 2022.
Malaga was originally named as the fourth host city for the group games, which take place between 14 and 18 September, but it has now been promoted to host the knockout stages, which are scheduled for November. A few days in Valencia followed by a week in Malaga is surely a mouth-watering opportunity for all the sun-loving tennis enthusiasts out there.
Did dishes sway the decision?
There seems to be a running theme for the now confirmed four host cities of the group stages. One that is based on them all being synonymous with a famous local dish. Original paella here in Valencia, spaghetti at its best in Bologna, a fat frankfurter in Hamburg – or should that be a juicy hamburger? – and for dessert, a deep-fried Mars bar in Glasgow. Now I’m no nutritionist, but oil, batter, chocolate and caramel is probably better kept as purely a post-match meal for the players based in the Scottish city. Or maybe just best left well alone, cardiologists might argue.
Although by no means the Alpine or even Himalayan pinnacle of tennis, the Davis Cup has been around for a long time. First held in 1900, it has received many facelifts over the years to try to give what is very much an individual sport an additional team angle. So much so that the current model is described as a ‘World Cup style format’ by the ITF. There are 16 teams in total, split into four groups. The top two teams progress to the knockout tournament in Malaga, where the players will fight it out to lift the trophy and share a cheque, which was last year worth just over €2,000,000 for the winning team.
In Valencia, the matches will take place at Pavelló Municipal Font de Sant Lluís. A 9,000 capacity indoor arena located in the south of the city that is the home of Liga ACB club Valencia Basket.
Davis Cup returns to Valencia
This isn’t the first time we’ve had the Davis Cup in Valencia. It was here most recently in 2018 when Spain beat Germany 3-2. In previous years the opposition didn’t have the benefit of playing in an airconditioned indoor arena. They had to slog it out on clay, in the furnace that is the Plaza de Toros (see main pic). I can’t think of a hotter part of Valencia than standing right outside the bullring, waiting desperately for the green man to let me cross the street and crawl into the shade. To me, the thought of playing tennis in the near vicinity, on clay, just seems mean, if not “cruel and unusual punishment”. It’s not surprising they’ve ditched that idea, it’s probably an infringement on the human rights of players not lucky enough to be from southern Europe.
You should expect to see lots of pictures of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the coming months as the event organisers try to drum up maximum interest. It is a real possibility that we will witness that very tantalising match-up. That’s because the Serbian world number one is very likely to be up against Spain’s grand slam record holder, 21 titles and counting, as both Spain and Serbia are in the group that will be playing in Valencia. Canada and South Korea make up the numbers, but I doubt there will be many posters of Felix Auger Aliassime and Chung Hyeon plastered all over the city. Not this city anyway.
How to buy tickets for Davis Cup in Valencia
Tickets aren’t on sale yet, but if you really can’t afford to miss out on watching the Davis Cup in Valencia you can sign up here to be notified as soon as the box office opens for business.
• As well as covering football and helping edit ‘Valencia Life’, Mark Pulley also writes especially about travel – with a focus on Valencia – at thesketchytraveller.com
You can keep up to date with sports news in Valencia here.
