The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Kosmos Tennis announced this Wednesday Malaga will host the knockout stage of the 2022 Davis Cup of the Rakuten Finalsto be played on an indoor hard court at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace from November 21 to 27.
Malaga managed to be one of the four venues for the group stage of the 2022 Finals, from September 14 to 18, but now was chosen to host a knockout stage in November for two yearsafter a convincing offer to the ITF and Kosmos Tennis.
This year is the first where the group stage will be held in four different venues, from September 14 to 18, while the final stage will be played from November 21 to 27, that is, at the end of the season.
It was one of the requests from tennis players to improve the new format, which entered the scene in 2019 in Madrid and continued in the Spanish capital in 2021, with a 2020 break due to covid.
The other three cities were announced as group stage areas in 2022 -Bologna (Italy), Glasgow (Great Britain) and Hamburg (Germany)-will host a group of four countriesand all battles will be played on the internal hard courts.
The bidding process is now open to replace Malaga as the venue for the group stage of the 2022 final tournamentand applications must be submitted before April 21.
Cities from 13 countries that have qualified for the 2022 finals, but have not yet hosted a group stage, can submit their bids: Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, and United States.
ITF and Kosmos Tennis will announce the winning bid city before the draw for the final stage, which will take place in Malaga on April 26 at 1:15 pm Spanish peninsular time.
“Andalusia has played an important role in the history of the Davis Cup and Malaga is a perfect venue for the culmination of this year’s men’s tennis world cup” the ITF president assured, David Haggerty.
The Davis Cup returns to Malaga for the first time since September 2003, when Spain beat Argentina 3-2 in the semi-finals. Andalusia has hosted the competition on many occasions, such as the 2004 and 2011 Davis Cup finals, played in Seville; and the final against Spain’s Davis Cup, a 3-1 victory over Romania in the 2022 qualifying phase, held in Marbella.
For his part, the tournament director, Albert Costaadded “Malaga and Andalusia have opened their doors to host the Davis Cup knockout phase for the Rakuten Finals and we will support them to become the tennis capital of the world hosting the top eight teams in November.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
