Roger Federer warns Gerard Pique over interference in Davis Cup

The battle over the future of the Davis Cup is hotting up. The International Tennis Federation, which runs the competition, may have thought everything had been resolved with its vote last month to change the format of the historic team event, but Roger Federer said here at the US Open that the event’s backers needed to be “very careful”.

The 20-times Grand Slam champion, responding to the involvement of the Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, also warned that the Davis Cup “should not become the Pique Cup”.

The ITF is partnering with the Kosmos investment group, fronted by Pique, to turn the focal point of the Davis Cup from next year into a week-long competition featuring 18 national teams.

It had been assumed that the event would be held at the end of November, when the Davis Cup final is traditionally staged, but Pique has subsequently indicated that he would like to move it to September, after the US Open.

Whichever date the Davis Cup occupies would have major implications for two other team competitions. The annual Laver Cup, which is run by a group including Federer’s management company, was launched last year and is currently held two weeks after the US Open. It brings together teams representing Europe and the Rest of the World.

Meanwhile the Association of Tennis Professionals has announced plans for a new team event to be held in Australia in the first week of January.

Federer told French-speaking reporters here: "The good part of all this confusion is that everyone will have to sit around one table and listen to the other's desires: the ITF, the ATP, the Laver Cup. It is true that the coming weeks may be very interesting

“I haven’t spoken to Gerard Pique yet, but I admit that it's a bit odd to see a footballer arrive and meddle in the tennis business. Be careful: the Davis Cup should not become the Piqué Cup.

“I am globally for innovations. Our sport needs to think a little outside the box to innovate. But it's a bit like in a game of Jenga: you have to be careful not to remove the piece that will bring down the whole building.”

Andy Murray has also expressed his misgivings about the future direction of the Davis Cup. Speaking last week, Murray said: “From pretty much every single player that I've spoken to, and I've been in player council meetings where we've discussed things with the ITF and stuff, all players love playing Davis Cup. You can’t question that.

“But obviously something wasn't working because the top players were not playing. Whether that was because of scheduling, coming immediately after the Slams, things like that. Possibly because it was every single year and it was a bit too demanding.

“I think there were potentially less drastic changes that could have taken place to make it better, like even keeping potentially the same format but doing it every couple of years.”