Chapter 1027 Sandwich Bread
In Davis Cup, the World Group can be simply called the championship group; while the Regional Group can be called the "promotion/relegation group".
There are three major areas, and each area group can be divided into four groups:
One group, two groups, three groups, four groups.
Every year, the competition is held between countries in the same group. Those who win will be promoted to a higher group; those who lose will be relegated to the first group.
There are two key points here.
First, the winner of Group One will compete against the team that lost in the first round of the World Group. The winner will enter the World Group and the loser will be relegated to Group One.
Among them, there are four places in the European and African regions, two places in the North American and South American regions, and two places in Asia and Oceania, a total of eight names advanced to the world group.
The losers of the second and fourth groups will not be demoted further because there are no more levels to be demoted.
The detailed competitions of the World Group and the Regional Group can basically be divided into four rounds if we go into more detail:
The first round can also be called the knockout round, because the losing teams need to play in the play-offs to strive to stay in the group they originally belonged to.
For the teams that have advanced all the way, the fourth round is a battle for the championship and a competition for the qualification to be promoted to the next group; for the teams that lost in the first round, they will continue to play, but not for the championship, but for relegation. Once they lose, they will be relegated, from the World Group to the Regional Group, and then down one level at a time within the Regional Group.
It is for this reason that confusing keywords often appear in media coverage of the Davis Cup.
For example, relegation.
For example, the play-offs.
For example, the world group and the Asia-Pacific group.
For example, why is a team that has been eliminated still playing?
For example, the defending champions were forced into a relegation situation after losing in the first round? And so on.
But after a careful review, the whole system becomes clear in an instant, as it is equivalent to the Super, A, B and C divisions of the European football league.
It's not difficult to understand.
Chinese men's tennis has been declining, but this is also relative to world tennis. In Asia, it is not the best but not the worst either.
In 2007, Chinese men's tennis fell into a trough. After losing in the first round of the regional group, they lost to Kazakhstan in the play-offs. They failed to avoid relegation and were relegated to Group 2. This was also the darkest and most depressed time.
But then, in 2008, the Chinese men's tennis team defeated New Zealand and returned to the first group of the regional group, and has never fallen out of the first group since then.
In the Asia and Oceania region, Australia, India and Japan are traditional strong teams, and Kazakhstan, Korea, Uzbekistan and others also have excellent competitiveness. China is neither good nor bad among them, and it seems that it always lacks the last breath and cannot break through the last layer of window paper.
In recent years, the Chinese men's tennis team has advanced to the final round of the regional group one competition three times, just one step away from the play-offs, but lost to Kazakhstan in 2010, Australia in 2011, and Uzbekistan in 2014. All failed.
In other words, in recent years, Chinese men's tennis has not even entered the play-offs to advance to the world group, let alone advance to the world group.
This situation doesn't seem unfamiliar.
Absolutely! It has absolutely no connotation of any other project.
This year, China still remains in Group One of the regional group. The seeded teams in the same group are Uzbekistan and India. Other teams in the same group include Korea, New Zealand and Thailand. Finally, the six countries will decide two teams to participate in the play-offs of the world group and strive for the opportunity to enter the world group next year.
Here, there is a key issue! If the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup are the only way to the Olympics, then their status is naturally unique, they should be very popular among professional players, and there should be no conflict of interest with the ATP and WTA, and the relationship should be particularly harmonious.
However, this is not the case.
Every year, there are countless complaints about the Davis Cup and Fed Cup competition systems; conflicts and contradictions between the ITF, ATP and WTA also always exist.
The reason is both simple and complex: conflict of interest.
The most important thing is the schedule.
The ITF's schedule is a separate system, which has led to frequent conflicts with the ATP and WTA and has been controversial.
Generally speaking, there are four Davis Cup events throughout the year.
The first time, around February to March, each group in the World Group and Regional Group will have their own knockout rounds.
The second time, look for a gap between April and July.
The third time was around September.
The fourth time, around November to December, the world group will hold the finals and the regional groups will hold the play-offs to determine who will advance to the world group.
In recent years, the ITF schedule has gradually become fixed: the first one is often scheduled one week before Indian Wells; the third one is often scheduled one week after the US Open.
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Is this really a good idea? Before the "Sunshine Double" is about to arrive, players will fly long distances to another venue to compete, and then travel back to North America to compete.
The US Open has just ended, and the players have to rush to participate in the competition without even adjusting to their condition, and the Shanghai Masters is just around the corner.
The ATP and WTA have already been criticized for their dense schedules. Now the ITF has forced additional competitions into the already tight schedule and used Olympic qualification as a bargaining chip. This has also made the players miserable, with more and more injuries caused by fatigue.
In this regard, the ITF, ATP and WTA all refused to give in and maintained a firm stance. Both sides were very tough, so that the players became the punching bags in a dilemma.
In fact, the middle-level players ranked around 100th in the world have the most difficulty.
For those top players, because they have ample funds and free time, there will be little subsequent impact whether they refuse ATP events or Davis Cup.
For those low-ranked players who may not even be eligible to participate in those top ATP events, Davis Cup is a worry-free option.
Only those players in the middle who are neither here nor there, on the one hand, need to continue participating in competitions to earn income and points; on the other hand, they also hope to serve their country, so they have to travel around the world.
For example, this week.
They need to participate in the Davis Cup, but then, win or lose, they have to go to Indian Wells to participate in the qualifying rounds for a chance to advance to the Masters.
The phrase "running around" suddenly becomes vivid and lifelike.
For Gao Wen, this was not a difficult choice.
He longed to fight for his country.
Although tennis is an individual sport, the feeling is different when you step onto the court with the national flag on your chest. He has also been looking forward to stepping onto the Olympic arena. The quadrennial event will be another challenge.
Just imagining it makes my blood boil.
Gao Wen was a little curious. When he stood on the court, not representing himself but the glory of the country, what kind of feeling was that excitement and excitement of not fighting alone? At this time, Gao Wen officially embarked on the journey. Before going to Indian Wells, he first went to Auckland to represent China in the Davis Cup for the first time!
(End of this chapter)