Former stars blame Novak Djokovic for being selfish regarding the Davis Cup
Former tennis champion Todd Woodbridge has fired criticism at organisers by saying World No.1 is equally responsible for the decision of moving Davis Cup to Abu Dhabi.
The former Grand Slam champion thinks that Davis Cup organisers have made a big mistake and has destroyed the legacy of the competition by shifting the tournament to the Middle East.
He went on to blame players too for the money-driven call to move the event to the Middle East. The Australian great while talking to 2GB said:
“What player in their right mind is going to go to Abu Dhabi and give themselves two weeks off before starting the new season?”
“The people that are making these decisions really need to take a look at themselves, because this event, I think, won’t be with us in five years’ time. Should (the ITF administrators) still be there? That’s the question.”
“I think that if you’ve wrecked the most historic competition in the game you probably have to resign and move on.”
Meanwhile, former tennis professional Sam Groth also felt that it was players like Novak Djokovic who would attend the event in December, making it viable.
Groth said on 2GB: “I’ll tell you exactly the type of player who’s going to show up to a 14-day event in Abu Dhabi. It’s the players who are defending the event currently that I am sure are having payments on the backside to support what is now called the Davis Cup Rakuten finals.
“This is not the Davis Cup. The ones that are going to turn up are exactly like Novak Djokovic, in my opinion, who spoke, rebutting Lleyton’s comments … I don’t have facts on this, but … this group is obviously spending a lot of money and they have some big financial backers in Abu Dhabi.“
The 20-time Grand Slam champion earlier last week backed the organisers’ decision of moving the competition to the Middle East. However, he also added that organisers should find the right balance between the money and the tradition of the tournament.
“Economically they’re very strong and they can finance the big demands that you have for an organisation of such an important event.
“Now, the question is whether you follow the money, so to say, or you follow the tradition, or you find a balance between the two.”
Currently the Serb is taking part in Davis Cup and has helped his team to the quarter-final so far.
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The draw for the quarter-finals is the Russian Tennis Federation vs Sweden, Great Britain vs Germany, Italy vs Croatia, Kazakhstan vs Serbia.
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