Fans are not too excited about the upcoming Davis Cup event in Madrid. Kosmos, Gerard Pique’s company which has taken over Davis Cup is struggling to sell tickets

On November 18, eighteen national team will begin playing in the first edition of the event   which has replaced the traditional home and away format that has been in place for years.  The new format was approved last year despite criticism from top players and top tennis-playing countries.

Ticket sales have only reached 50 per cent for nine of the 25 sessions . Ties between Argentina and Chile, and Serbia and Japan, both have more than 8,000 tickets still available.

Kosmos spokesperson said, “We are working with the 17 embassies in Spain in order to reach international communities living in Spain. We have economic prices. The cheapest ticket costs 25 euros and you can see a tie (comprising three matches).”

The draw for the Nitto ATP Finals was held yesterday in London.  Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are in the Bjorn Borg group. Rafael Nadal, who pulled out of the Paris Masters due to an abdominal injury intends to play in London, and is in Group Agassi with Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Group Andre Agassi
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[4] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
[6] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
[7] Alexander Zverev (GER)

Group Bjorn Borg
[2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
[3] Roger Federer (SUI)
[5] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
[8] Matteo Berrettini (ITA)

Roberto Bautista Agut and Gael Monfils are first and second alternates. Given Nadal’s health situation, it is likely that Agut will play at some point during the week.

The tournament has a total prize money of $9 million dollars. The ATP Finals moves to Turin, Italy in 2021. 

The courts are expected to be slow (not too slow, it’s actually considered medium fast by some). Roger Federer will have his work cut out if he loses to either Dominic Thiem or Matteo Berrettini. Thiem typically does very well on slow courts and may like the courts at the O2 Arena. Barring any major upsets, Djokovic and Federer should come out on top from Group Bjorn Borg

Group Andre Agassi is more balanced. I am not sure how fit Rafael Nadal is.  But He has never won the ATP Finals and how far he goes depends on how well he feels.  Medvedev has been on a hot run since the summer and is likely to make a deep run here. Sascha Zverev has had a disappointing year by most standards, but he played well enough to get into the Top 8 at the end of the year. But I don’t expect him to make it out of the round-robin group stage. I expect Medvedev and Tsitsipas to come out as winners of this group.

Djokovic starts on Sunday against Berrettini, and Federer plays Thiem.