The Australian Davis Cup earned its way back into the Davis Cup World Group with a 3-0 sweep over Uzbekistan, but that didn’t stop Aussie Captain Patrick Rafter from getting ticked off over the ITF’s decision to not allow a last-minute substitute into Sunday’s dead rubbers in Perth.
Rafter appealed to the Davis Cup governing body about letting his rising young star Thanasi Kokkinakis sub in for one of the four players on the roster, but the kibosh was put on his well-intentioned plan due to the fact that the rules don’t allow it.
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"This is where the rule is just shit," Rafter said, according to Brad Elborough of the Age. "I've got a couple of guys that I'm sure they don't really want to play either. I just see no relevance in playing Nick [Kyrgios] or Lleyton [Hewitt] … it's just an irrelevant match. I want to put Thanasi in; they won't let me. I think everyone would really appreciate seeing the young kid play and how good he is, and he's a potential player for us in the future. I just totally disagree with the ITF ruling; it makes no sense to me at all."
Dead rubbers have long been a bone of contention when it comes to Davis Cup ties. Fans have tickets, and many have slated Sunday as the big day because normally both team’s No. 1 singles players meet in Sunday’s first rubber. But in cases where one team has clinched victory on Saturday, fans instead get meaningless tennis, and many times they see matches cancelled, much to their chagrin.
In February’s Germany-Spain tie, fans were offered one best-of-three match instead of two best-of-five rubbers when Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber and Spain’s Feliciano Lopez were allowed to opt out.
The ITF is undoubtedly saddled with a strict set of rules that it must follow in certain situations, and for Rafter to expect that a player that is not on the official four-man roster to be allowed to play is probably too much to ask. But he does have a point when he says that most fans in Perth would be more than happy to see the rising 18-year-old in action.
It’s a difficult situation. Rafter’s frustration is understandable, but to expect a player from off the roster to be allowed to play an official Davis Cup match is a bit too much. It would come off as unprofessional and could lead to future abuse of the rule, which is exactly what left the fans in Frankfurt up in arms this February when they felt that they didn’t get what they had paid for.
It’s a complicated decision, with many parties to consider, and it most certainly calls for discussion and the possible allowance for dead rubber roster expansions, if the situation calls for it, in the future.
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