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ITF President David Haggerty confirms Stan Wawrinka's claims that the ITF paid people to support Switzerland and Great Britain during a Davis Cup match in Manchester but also highlighted that happened in collaboration with the Swiss and British teams.
In September, Switzerland and Great Britain clashed against each other during the Davis Cup Finals group stage in Manchester. Wawrinka, who was representing Switzerland, uploaded a video on X, in which can be seen pretty empty stands.
"Did you know that ITF Tennis are paying people to support and make some noise for every country at every match?" Wawrinka posted on X in September. This week, ITF President Haggerty was asked about Wawrinka's claim. "Some of the bands in Manchester… teams asked us if we could help get local university people which we put in contact with them - and it helped them with the atmosphere they were looking for," Haggerty told BBC Sport.
Haggerty: The home-and-away format is not going to work
Since the introduction of the new Davis Cup format, some have been particularly frustrated with the expulsion of the home-and-away format. This week, the Davis Cup Final 8 is taking place in Malaga.
Australian tennis legend and Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt urged the ITF to return the home-and-away format. "The No 1 thing is home-and-away ties. I have watched plenty of vision the last few years, even back in the day when I was playing.
Coming back here to Spain and remembering 2000. Rafa Nadal was carrying the flag onto the court in front of over 20,000 people, all booing and screaming against me, and it was still an unbelievable atmosphere. That’s what the Davis Cup was about," Hewitt said in Malaga.
However, Haggerty doesn't think that's a good idea. "The home and away format is not going to work and the players told us that in the past. It would not be a good competition if we went back to only home and away. Sometimes the loudest voices aren't always the majority," Haggerty said.