Malaga to host Davis Cup Finals in November in 2022 and 2023

After initial reports that Abu Dhabi was a leading candidate, the rights to host the knockout stages of the Davis Cup Finals have been awarded to Malaga, Spain for 2022 and 2023

The winning Russian team with the trophy at the 2021 Davis Cup Finals in Madrid Image Credit: Imago / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

April 13, 2022

The Spanish city of Malaga has been selected as the host for the knockout stages of the Davis Cup Finals in November, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and tournament organisers Kosmos announced on Wednesday.

Malaga was initially selected as one of the four host cities for the group phase which will be held from September 14-18 alongside Bologna (Italy), Glasgow (Scotland), and Hamburg (Germany).

However, with Malaga securing the rights to host the knockout stages of the event in November, another city will be chosen to host the group phase. A total of 13 nations will now be eligible to bid to become the fourth city for the group stages.

Davis Cup Finals to be played on indoor hard courts

Malaga will host the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final from November 21-27 on indoor hard courts and will also host the knockout stages in 2023. Madrid, Spain hosted the first two editions of the knockout stages of the Davis Cup Finals.

More than a century old, the Davis Cup is the annual men’s team tennis competition and was revamped in 2019 with Kosmos doing away with the traditional home-and-away format. That move was widely criticised by many tennis purists.

Abu Dhabi was said to be among the front-runners to host the Finals in November. But according to L’Equipe, the organisers there wanted a guarantee that top players would travel to the Middle East at the end of the long tennis season to participate in the event.

The Russian Tennis Federation are the defending champions, having beaten Croatia in the final last December but as things stand, they will not be able to defend their title because they are banned by the ITF over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.