By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Defending Davis Cup champion Spain will host Ecuador in its Davis Cup opener in Madrid, while the USA will travel to Turin to take on a talented Italian squad.
Photo credit: Davis Cup Facebook
Spain returns to its capital to defend its Cup.
Spain will launch its Davis Cup defense against Ecuador in Madrid as the Davis Cup Finals adopts a multi-site format for the first time.
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The cities of Madrid, Spain, Innsbruck, Austria and Turin, Italy will simultaneously host the first ties of the 2021 Davis Cup Finals on Thursday, November 25th.
The new format, which is being introduced for the first time this year, will see each venue host two competition groups during the group stage, with Innsbruck and Turin hosting one quarterfinal, and Madrid hosting the remaining two quarterfinals. The Spanish capital will also stage the two semifinals and the final at the Madrid Arena rather than the Magic Box home of the Mutua Madrid Open that hosted the event the last time it was contested in 2019.
In Madrid, Canada will open the action against Sweden (Group B); in Innsbruck, France will face Czech Republic (Group C); and in Turin, Australia will take on Croatia (Group D).
In an effort to alleviate the schedule snafus and late nights that occurred in the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, all ties will start at 4 p.m. CET and, as with all ties at the Davis Cup Finals, will consist of two singles matches and one doubles.
"The scheduling of the ties has been carefully designed to ensure a level playing field for all participants, including those who will have to travel due to their progression in the knockout phase," Davis Cup director Albert Costa said. "There will be equality across all the groups and without doubt every match will be very exciting. The teams are planning to bring their best players and we are absolutely certain that this will be an event that will bring the annual tennis season to a spectacular close."
The three host nations will have to wait one more day to launch their campaigns – with ties on Friday, November 26th also starting at 4 p.m. as Spain take on Ecuador in Madrid, Austria open against Serbia in Innsbruck and Italy face the USA in Turin.
The group stage will be completed November 27-28th with the debut of other teams including Russian Tennis Federation (RTF), Great Britain and Germany. The quarterfinals begin on Monday, November 29th.
Venues and Groups
Madrid Arena, Madrid, Spain
Group A: Spain, RTF, Ecuador
Group B: Canada, Kazakhstan, Sweden
Quarter-finals: Winner Group A v group runner-up; Winner Group B v group runner-up
Semi-finals and final
Olympia-Halle, Innsbruck, Austria
Group C: France, Great Britain, Czech Republic
Group F: Serbia, Germany, Austria
Quarter-final: Winner Group C v Winner Group F
Pala Alpitour Arena, Turin (ITA)
Group D: Croatia, Australia, Hungary
Group E: USA, Italy, Colombia
Quarter-final: Winner Group D v Winner Group E