20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer has fired a stern warning at Barcelona defender Gerard Pique amid him wanting to change the Davis Cup. The tournament is an international team event in men's tennis which is contested between teams from participating countries in a knock-out format.
Gerard Pique, who is the founder of Kosmos – a ports and media investment group – reached an agreement with the International Tennis Federation to make some changes to the format of the Davis Cup. Earlier this year, the 31-year-old Spanish centre-back stated in an interview with BBC that tennis needed to evolve or risk dying, hence the need to make a few amendments regardless of tradition.
According to reports, Pique could move the Davis Cup from November to September which could directly rival the Lavar Cup – a tennis tournament created by Federer scheduled to be hosted in Geneva between the 20th and 22nd of the same month next year.
"I'm in favor of innovation, and not everything is negative with the new Davis Cup," Federer told reporters after qualifying from the first round of the ongoing US Open.
"Now the ATP, the ITF and the organizers of the Laver Cup have to meet to discuss around a table.
"For us tennis players, it's a little strange that a footballer comes to interfere in our world. He must remain very careful. The Davis Cup should not become the Pique Cup," Federer concluded.
