Carlos Alcaraz demands rule change after ATP Finals rival pulled out | Tennis | Sport

Carlos Alcaraz has suggested that the Davis Cup could instead be held “every two or three years” to avoid top players pulling out of the team event. It comes after Lorenzo Musetti announced that he would no longer be representing two-time defending champions Italy next week, having competed for four consecutive weeks on the main tour. It means that Musetti ended his season with a round-robin defeat to Alcaraz at the ATP Finals, and had a 1-2 record on his tournament debut.

It’s the second blow for the Italian team, as four-time Major winner Jannik Sinner previously confirmed that he would not be representing his country this year, instead opting to have a longer off-season. And Sinner also isn’t opposed to a biennial Davis Cup.

While some top players won’t be heading to Bologna for the upcoming Davis Cup Finals, Alcaraz has already committed to representing their countries next week, even though he’s currently in action at the ATP Finals. But he can understand why a few of his rivals are too tired to add one more week to the end of their season – and believes there could be a solution.

“If I am honest with you, I think the Davis Cup is one of those tournaments that you’re not used to feeling and playing because you’re playing for your country, you’re playing with your teammates. It’s totally different. I think it’s one of the most privileged things you can do in our sport, representing your country,” the six-time Grand Slam champion said.

“I agree that they got to do something in this event, because I think playing every year, I mean, it is not as good as it might be if you’re playing every two or three years. I think if the tournament is played like every two years or every three years, the players, the commitment of the players, it’s going to be even more because it’s unique, it’s different. You’re not able to play every year.”

Should Alcaraz win the ATP Finals on Sunday, he would have just four days to recover in time for Spain’s first tie at the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna. And he can’t blame the likes of Sinner and Musetti for opting out of the quick turnaround.

The world No. 1 added: “Yeah, I’m playing this year. I really want to win the Davis Cup one day because for me it’s a really important, important tournament. Jannik has won it twice. I think Lorenzo once or twice, as well.

“For me, I would say it’s normal for them because the season has been so long. They might keep it to have one more week to recover, to do vacation, to do pre-season, which is understandable. It’s normal. But I would say they got to do something about it to make the Davis Cup unique.”

Sinner, who was part of Italy’s winning team in both 2023 and 2024, would also like to see the team even staged every two years – and in different countries, similar to the old home-and-away ties. He said: “I think playing with this schedule, Davis Cup, it’s difficult that you have every year from every country the best players in the world.

“What I would like, what I could see potentially in the future, is having Davis Cup throughout two years, so you can also set up the semifinals in the beginning of the year and the final in the end of the year somewhere. It’s also nice where you can choose, make the coin toss, whatever, and you play in this stadium, and you sell tickets.”