Roger Federer has fired a warning shot to Gerard Pique after it was revealed the Barcelona footballer wants to hold the revamped Davis Cup in September.
Pique is behind the Kosmos investment group that has partnered with the International Tennis Federation to make radical change to the historic competition, the centrepiece of which will now be a World Cup-style week-long event beginning next year.
Having initially said it would be held in November in the same week the Davis Cup final is currently played, Pique told Le Figaro last weekend that he is now working to change it to September after discussions with several leading players.
That would see it become a direct rival to the Laver Cup, the Ryder Cup-style competition devised by Federer and his agent Tony Godsick, with Geneva due to host the third edition from September 20-22 next year.
Speaking to French-speaking reporters following his first-round win over Yoshihito Nishioka at the US Open on Tuesday, Federer said: “I’m in favour of innovation, and not everything is negative with the new Davis Cup.
“Now the ATP, the ITF and the organisers of the Laver Cup have to meet to discuss around a table. For us tennis players, it’s a little strange that a footballer comes to interfere in our world. He must remain very careful. The Davis Cup should not become the Pique Cup.”
