Alexander Zverev Criticizes Davis Cup Format Changes

Alexander Zverev just ripped into the current Davis Cup format, and he didn’t hold back. He’s calling it more of an exhibition than the real deal.

And honestly? He’s got a point.

The Davis Cup used to be something special. Countries would battle it out in packed home arenas, with best-of-five matches that created incredible drama every single time.

Now it’s completely different.

These days, the eight best countries qualify for the Davis Cup Finals. They get thrown into an eight-team draw, and all the matches happen at the same venue. That means only one team gets home-field advantage.

According to tons of players and fans, that change killed what made the Davis Cup magical.

There’s another problem too. The Davis Cup Finals are currently the last event on the calendar, which makes it really tough for players to show up every year.

Jannik Sinner won’t play at this year’s Davis Cup Finals, something that drew serious criticism from Italian fans. Carlos Alcaraz has even suggested the event should happen every two years instead.

Zverev got asked about those comments during his press conference after the last round-robin match at the ATP Finals. As someone who’s been openly criticizing the current format for years, he absolutely unloaded.

"It’s true. I think he’s right. The true Davis Cup is the home-and-away ties. For me, if you’re in the final of Davis Cup, I’m more than happy to play one more week after the World Tour Finals. But to play quarterfinals, semifinals, finals, I’m not too happy about because it can be a waste of time. If you lose in the semifinals, if you lose in quarterfinals, for me it’s a waste of time."

He wasn’t done there.

"In a way, the real Davis Cup is the atmosphere. To play against Italy in Italy, it would be a completely different atmosphere than playing Italy in Spain. I played against [Rafael] Nadal in a bullfighting arena. That’s for me the real Davis Cup. I always keep my opinion."

Then came the real kicker:

"I always said my opinion over the last couple years. I don’t think this Davis Cup is the real Davis Cup. It’s an exhibition tournament in a way that is called the Davis Cup."

Why will Alexander Zverev play the Davis Cup despite slamming the format?

So here’s the thing that might confuse people. If Zverev hates the format so much, why is he still playing?

He actually answered that question without even being asked.

The German Davis Cup team this year consists of Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Yannick Hanfmann, and the doubles team of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

Here’s what’s really interesting about those ages.

Struff is 35. Hanfmann is 34. Krawietz is 33, and Puetz is 37. This generation of German tennis is clearly winding down, and there’s one thing these guys never managed to do together.

Win a Davis Cup.

Germany last won the Davis Cup in 1993 – more than three decades ago. Back then, Michael Stich and Marc-Kevin Goellner teamed up to beat Australia in the final.

Zverev wants to help his countrymen win this competition at least once. Since he’s the best German player on the ATP Tour right now, his teammates asked for help.

And he said yes.

"I’ll play it now because my teammates and my German colleagues really asked me to play because they feel like everybody’s getting older. Struffy [Jan-Lennard Struff] doesn’t have many opportunities anymore. The doubles guys don’t have many opportunities anymore. I’m playing it just because of that reason. For me, this has nothing to do with Davis Cup."

It’s pretty clear where Zverev stands. He thinks the current format is broken, but he’s willing to put that aside for his teammates.

That’s loyalty you don’t see every day in professional tennis.