2018 Davis Cup and Fed Cup finals to be held together in Geneva

The finals of the 2018 Davis Cup and Fed Cup, scheduled for November of that year, will be celebrated together in Geneva, Switzerland, announced the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Wednesday.

Until now, the finals were organized by one of the two participating countries, following the principle of alternation.

The new proposal is part of a series of measures implemented by the ITF aimed at relaunching these two competitions, which have lost interest in recent years due to the absence of the best players on the circuit.

In the first round of the 2017 edition, only one member of the ATP Top-10, Serbian Novak Djokovic, participated. The same happened among women.

It is planned that the first three editions of this new format, presented under the name "Tennis World Cup Finals", will be held at the Palexpo (with a capacity for 18,000 spectators) in the Swiss capital, which has been chosen as the organizing city ahead of Copenhagen, Miami, Istanbul, Turin and Wuhan (China).

However, the measure has sparked criticism from some of the heavyweight players on the circuit.

Last year, British player Andy Murray, the current world number one, said he loved "the atmosphere of the (Davis Cup) matches as a home or away player".

Djokovic, for his part, stated that the change was going to deprive players "of what they like most about the Davis Cup, the atmosphere when playing at home, the local fans".

The ITF hopes to increase its revenues and, as a result, raise the prize money for participants, the organization explained in the statement announcing the news.