The classification of the women’s Spanish Armada for the Finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, the old Federation Cup, may soon be accompanied by another great piece of news for the Spanish team, since Valencia is very close to becoming the headquarters of the Davis cup for the next five years.
The negotiations between the Generalitat and Kosmos, the footballer’s company Gerard Piqué that gave a radical turn to this international team competition, they are very advanced as he learned Raise-EMVmedium that belongs to the same editorial group as this newspaper, in the absence of specifying some aspects such as the final location of the tournament, since certain capacity and space requirements for the different selections, among others.
The Generalitat is working together with other administrations to bring the Davis Cup, in principle the Group Phase but surely also the Finals, although Malaga is assured of hosting it for the next two years after having applied first for the previous phase. From the Consell the Davis Cup is seen as a important sporting event due to the impact it has worldwide, in addition to the economy of the city during the five years for which it is being negotiated. After having given up a few months ago to host the sailing America’s Cup that will stop in Barcelona in 2024, in this case it is considered that the organization of the Davis Cup, be it the group stage or the finals, falls within the parameters having, among other aspects, an assumable canon. In addition, Valencia would enter a select group of cities such as Glasgow and Monte Carlo that have already offered to host the competition in the coming years. In fact, this year it will be Hamburg (Germany), Bologna (Italy), Glasgow (Great Britain) and a fourth city to be determined that host the Group Stage, from September 14 to 18.
On April 26 at 4:00 p.m. there will be a draw for the groups and the venues that will be assigned to them, with the sixteen teams divided into four pots, as follows: Croatia, Spain, France and the United States in Pot 1 ; Germany, Italy, Great Britain and Canada at 2; Kazakhstan, Belgium, Serbia, and Argentina at 3; and Sweden, Australia, Holland and South Korea in number 4. Spain already knows one of its rivals, Canada, as the other three countries in pot 2 will host one of the competition groups. The top two teams in each group will advance to the Malaga Finals from November 23 to 27.
Valencia has hosted the Davis Cup andin their previous knockout format up to five times, the last one at the Plaza de Toros in 2018, with a capacity of 10,600 spectators for the quarterfinals against Germany, and the previous four at the Valencia Tennis Club. In 2003 in the quarterfinals against Croatia, which was attended by 7,500 people. The other three occasions were played under a different format, before the creation of the World Group in 1981: in 1980, when they lost to Germany; in 1969, with a defeat against Romania, and in 1968, with victory against the Netherlands for the first time. in Valencia. Three other qualifiers were also played in Benidorm, Alicante and Oropesa del Mar.