TENNIS NEWS - Australia's Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt has criticised Barcelona soccer player Gerard Pique and his Spanish investment group Kosmos for making sweeping changes to the 119-year-old tennis competition.
The Davis Cup will be revamped to create a tennis World Cup after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) signed a 25-year $3 billion deal with Kosmos where the home-away system will be replaced by an 18-team tournament played over a week in Madrid.
The new format will have the usual five sets reduced to three and Hewitt believes it was "ridiculous" to make so many changes to the sport's premier international tournament.
"He (Pique) knows nothing about tennis. It'd be like me asking to change things for the Champions League," Hewitt told reporters ahead of Australia's Davis Cup qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"The two biggest points of difference were, one, the home and away aspect of it and, secondly, was the best of five sets. If you look at the pinnacle of our sport, which are the four majors, they're best of five sets."
