Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

The American who posted a surprise win to become ITF president may soon face international opposition to his plan to drive through a thorough shake up of the Davis Cup format established over a century ago.

David Haggerty, who briefly ran the USTA, has already begun angering some constituent members with his radical ideas on Davis Cup format reform, which have already included managing to pass a resolution doing away with never-ending fifth sets in favor of tiebreaks.

But the new boss may be in for a surprise when he tries to apply more serious pressure to Davis Cup traditionalist nations, specifically France and other European powers.

Already he is laying his plans and apparently aiming to force an American-style Final Four format on both Davis Cup and the women’s version, the Fed Cup. with semis and finals concentrated in subsequent weeks in a city to be specified months in advance – all for the pleasure of television.

He told the New York Times: “I can’t say that’s what we’re going to do, but I can certainly say it’s something that’s got some favorable feedback and traction from some of the nations, It’s more likely they’d be in different cities because of the timing today, but if you look at it, the Davis Cup and Fed Cup Final Fours could be in the same city, with one held one week and the other the week after.

“I want to raise the awareness level and the image of tennis, and I think that’s where new Davis Cup and Fed Cup formats give us the ability to really help elevate the sport.”

The outsider shockingly beat out a pair of old-school European administrators, Rene Stammbach of Switzerland and Spaniard Juan Magrets.

Haggerty can likely expect to find the stiffest opposition to his reign from smaller federations who depend on Davis Cup monies to find much of their national budgets. Any attempts to cut back the cash cow will surely be vigorously opposed by the smaller fish in the Davis Cup pond.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.