Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

New International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty promised change when he succeeded Francesco Ricci Bitti in office last year and he seems as good as his word with the Fed Cup the latest competition to be linked with a possible makeover.

Haggerty now wants to bring the Fed Cup in line with the Davis Cup, expanding the elite World Group to 16 nations, rather than the current situation of having eight teams in World Group I and another eight in a secondary World Group II.

“The ITF is looking at new formats that would allow a 16-team World Group, something that is favored by many of our constituents,” said Haggerty.
Apparently the ITF is considering changing the current zonal group section further down in the competition with teams staying in lower sections for protracted periods of time simply on the basis of one defeat after registering a succession of good group results.

Britain, the current Davis Cup champions, is a perfect example in the Fed Cup. After commendable successes against South Africa and Georgia last week, Judy Murray’s team fell short in the Group 1 promotion play-off against Belgium in Eilat, Israel.

Murray’s team was denied the services of Australian Open semi-finalist Johanna Konta who was suffering from illness in the aftermath of her Melbourne successes but despite their victories are now consigned to staying at the same level for another year.

“We have been stuck in here for years and I am fed up of it,” said Murray. “All in all, there are lots of things to be pleased about but we are very disappointed we didn’t get out of this zone.”

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.