Australian Davis Cup team captain Lleyton Hewitt has once again made it clear that he is not a big fan of the current Davis Cup format. This past weekend in Malaga, Australia made the final at the Davis Cup Finals. In the final, Australia suffered a 2-0 defeat to Canada.
For the past few years, Hewitt has been among the biggest critics of the current Davis Cup format. In his latest comments regarding the Davis Cup format, Hewitt suggested it is probably being unfair toward some teams.
Hewitt on the Davis Cup format
“Everyone knows my feelings.
Coming here this week I felt disappointed for the Dutch team, for example. They’ve got two quality doubles players and they do all the hard work all year to come and perform in the so-called biggest stage of the year, and they don’t get the chance to play a match.
I thought that’s a failing in this concept the whole time, and no one is listening. So I can talk till I’m blue in the face, but nothing’s changing right now. We just keep putting Band-Aids – well, we don’t, but certain people put Band-Aids on problems.
It’s not fixing the problem. I can’t imagine, for the life of me. I came up playing with the best doubles team in the world, the Woodies, at the time. They come into this format and they don’t get to play a match? And they have made that a massive priority? I don’t think that’s right,” Hewitt said, per Tennis Majors.
Meanwhile, Australia fell just short of winning its 29th Davis Cup title. Australia, which is among the most accomplished nations in Davis Cup history, was bidding to win its first title in the competition since 2003. Hewitt, who was a part of that victorious Australian team in 2003, is now aiming to win a Davis Cup title as a captain. It remains to be seen if Hewitt can guide Australia to the Davis Cup title in 2023.
