Moretton, in L’Équipe: “The Davis Cup was a great tool for promoting tennis. We gave in to the allure of money.”

In L’Équipe, Gilles Moretton, president of the FTT, reaffirmed his position against the current format of the Davis Cup, by attacking the IT

Moretton at Strasbourg 2021

Mathieu Canac

November 22, 2022

This Tuesday, Gilles Moretton, the president of the French Tennis Federation, launched a few new shots towards the International Tennis Federations (ITF) about the current formula of the Davis Cup in an interview to L’Équipe,

“In the current configuration, we cannot move forward on the Davis Cup,” he said. “Because there is no transparency at the ITF. We have very little information on the contract with Kosmos (the company, chaired by Gerard Pique, which bought the Davis Cup), and on the conditions under which we could possibly get out of it.”

Moretton’s statements come after ITF boss David Haggerty faced pushback for pushing for the integration of padel and pickleball within the ITF, eventually leading to his proposals being rejected.

The primary mission of the ITF is the promotion and development of tennis throughout the world. And I remember that the Davis Cup was a great tool for this promotion.
Gilles Moretton

“For me, and this is what I said in my intervention, the ITF should not consider padel as a spare tyre and should focus on tennis, because the situation is far from extraordinary with the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup,” Moretton said. “The primary mission of the ITF is the promotion and development of tennis throughout the world. And I remember that the Davis Cup was a great tool for this promotion. (…) We gave in to the allure of money.”

Launched in 2019 and then cancelled in 2020 due to covid-19, the new format is experiencing its third edition this season. This week, the “Final 8” takes place in Malaga, Spain. The knockout quarter-finals pit Italy against the United States, Germany against Canada, Spain against Croatia and the Netherlands against Australia.