Chapter 1026: Displacement

"...Good morning, dear passengers and friends, thank you for choosing Air New Zealand as your partner for this journey. Ahead is our final destination of this flight, Auckland. I am your captain..."

Inside the cabin, the in-flight broadcast was rustling, the faint blue halo slowly receded like a tide, and the sleeping flight slowly came back to life.

Some people stretch to relieve their aching backs, some move back and forth in the corridor, some stand in line at the bathroom door, some wake up half asleep and look for breakfast, some are stiff and unable to move in strange postures, some close their eyes tightly as if they have entered another world...

There was a rustling sound in the air, and then Gawain woke up and stretched himself. His knees and waist were still a little sore.

Although the business class seats can be laid flat, the space is still too narrow for Gao Wen's height. He has to curl up like a baby every time, and he will inevitably suffer from back pain when he wakes up.

Just by stretching, you can feel the bones crackling, and every cell in your body groans with pleasure.

etc!

Oakland? Where's Indian Wells?

All eyes were focused on Indian Wells, expecting Gawain to perform in the next Masters, but Gawain was heading to Auckland? Was there a schedule error?

Of course…no.

Everything is going according to plan. There is still a whole week left before the Indian Wells qualifying round and two weeks left before the main competition. In this short window period, there is also one more event: the Davis Cup!

Today's professional tennis events can be divided into three parts: ATP/WTA, ITF, and the four Grand Slams. There is cooperation and coordination between the three, but there is also a certain degree of competition.

If we analyze it in depth, we will find that it is intricate and complicated, but we can understand it simply as follows:

ATP/WTA is responsible for the daily tour; the management rights of the four Grand Slams belong to the host countries. The tennis associations of these countries jointly organize the four Grand Slams every year, but still maintain relative independence.

This is why the wild cards in the four Grand Slams often have their own special attributes.

So, what about ITF? ITF, the International Tennis Federation, is responsible for the Challenge Tournament, Future Tournament and Junior Tournament. In other words, the junior tournaments of the four Grand Slams are organized with the assistance of ITF. It should be noted that ITF also has its own ranking points, but because of its limitations, almost no one pays attention to it.

The youth world ranking is compiled and counted by the ITF.

If that were the case, the ITF would have almost no presence in the professional tennis world. In fact, the ITF's voice is indeed constrained by many parties, making it difficult to move forward, and it is almost like a punching bag in the middle; however, there is only one exception:

The Olympics! The Olympics is a competition in which countries participate as a unit, so they will not and cannot contact the ATP and WTA, which are based on individuals. The ITF, which is also based on countries, becomes the only possible partner.

This also means that the ITF has the power to decide the Olympic qualification, and players must participate in ITF events to qualify.

Therefore, the Davis Cup, a men's team competition, and the Federation Cup, a women's team competition organized by the ITF, became the only way.

According to ITF regulations, if a tennis player wants to compete in the Olympics, he must accumulate appearances in the Davis Cup or Fed Cup in a four-year cycle. Regardless of winning or losing, only if the number of matches reaches the requirement can he win the Olympic qualification.

In addition, there is a limit on the number of participants from each country, which is the same as table tennis and badminton.

Of course, if a player has no interest in the Olympics, then whether or not to participate in the Davis Cup and Fed Cup will have no impact.

However, from another perspective, there are no team competitions in the Olympics, only men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. This also means that the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup are the only team championships in tennis tournaments. Putting aside the Olympics, this is also a special honor.

Moreover, the ITF has reached agreements with the ATP and WTA respectively, and players can also win ranking points by playing in the Davis Cup, giving players additional incentives.

Although, the points are really just a drop in the bucket.

For various reasons, almost all the top players have appeared on the Davis Cup and Fed Cup stages.

The Davis Cup, with a history comparable to the four Grand Slams, originated at Harvard University in 1899.

At that time, four tennis players from Harvard University proposed the idea of ​​a tennis match with Britain. Dwight-F-Davis, one of the four, planned the event and bought the trophy with his own money. In the following year, in 1900, the first event was held.

In 1905, the tournament was expanded to include a new team consisting of members from Belgium, Austria, France and Australasia.

In 1914, Australia and New Zealand also joined the competition.

Initially, the tournament was named the "International Tennis Challenge", but soon developed into the well-known "Davis Cup" that it has developed to this day.

Now, the Davis Cup, like the Fed Cup, is all organized by the ITF.

After a century of development, the Davis Cup has become the only team championship in the individual sport of tennis, with a status comparable to the World Cup.

It is also because of this that the Davis Cup qualification is as complicated as the World Cup.

The World Cup is divided into two parts: the qualifiers and the finals, and the Davis Cup is the same:

World Group and Regional Group.

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The regional group is equivalent to the World Cup qualifiers; the world group is equivalent to the World Cup finals.

Simply put, the core information of the entire competition system is that the qualifying places are determined through regional group competitions, and then the teams enter the world group to compete for the championship.

When it comes to details, the Davis Cup is much more complicated.

First, the World Group.

The rules are simple. Sixteen teams are selected by drawing lots, and the champion is decided in a single elimination system.

Specifically, each match is played in a best-of-five format, with three singles and two doubles. Single matches are the same as Grand Slams, with a best-of-five format.

Regarding the long-set decision, the Davis Cup still adopts the long-set decision, that is, there is no tiebreak in the deciding set; but there is an exception. If one side has won three games first, then the remaining games need to continue, but the long-set decision is given up and the deciding set is played in a tiebreak.

There is a little special thing here: in the first round of eliminations, the eight winning teams will be able to continue to stay in the world group next year; and the eight teams that unfortunately lose will be relegated to the regional group, and need to fight for the right to qualify again through the winning teams of the regional group and obtain the qualification to compete for the championship in the world group.

That is to say, the sixteen teams in the World Group every year are divided into two parts: eight teams are the quarterfinals of the previous year; and eight teams are the winners of the regional group play-offs of the previous year.

Second, the regional groups.

There are three major regions in total: the European and African regional group, the North American and South American regional group, and the Asia and Oceania regional group. The rules for regional division in the World Cup qualifiers are basically the same, but simpler.

In the World Cup qualifiers, multiple rounds are required, including qualifying, first round of group matches, second round of group matches, and play-offs. The same is true for the Davis Cup.

To explain it specifically, it is indeed complicated, but it is also simple.

(End of this chapter)