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Agassi wants Davis Cup rethink
Eleanor Preston
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March 29, 2005 19:07 IST

American Andre Agassi [Images] believes the Davis Cup is too time-consuming for top players and wants a change in format to entice the biggest names in the sport to take part.

"It's not realistic to expect all the players to play all the time," said Agassi, who came out of Davis Cup retirement for his country's first round defeat to Croatia in California earlier this month.

"The schedule is difficult as it is. The wear and tear on one's body these days versus when I first came on is a whole different animal.

"Guys hit the ball bigger, every movement is more violent. There's much more injury. It's harder to do this for a long period of time, playing Davis Cup every year.

"For all the players to play all the time, a change would have to be made."

Top 10 players like Swiss Roger Federer [Images], Spain's Carlos Moya [Images] and Britain's Tim Henman have all chosen not to play Davis Cup this year -- Henman has retired from the competition altogether -- in order to save their bodies for Grand Slam and tour events.

Agassi said he has not spoken to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) about a change in the format and admitted that he has no suggestions as to how the competition should be restructured.

"We all sort of agree in bigger terms that it would be great to have all the players playing, it would be great to have a format that works," he said.

"Davis Cup does also take tennis to a lot of places in the world that wouldn't normally get a chance. It generates a lot of interest and economics.

"So there's a lot to be considered. I certainly wouldn't claim to know even 50 percent of that. Calling a problem and solving a problem are two different things."

 



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