The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Kosmos Tennis have today announced that Malaga, Spain, will host the knock-out stage of the 2022 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals, which will be played on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena on 21-27 November.
Malaga was successful in its bid to host one of the four venues for the group stage of the 2022 Finals on 14-18 September but has now been selected to host the knock-out stage in November for two years, following a compelling bid to the ITF and Kosmos Tennis. Located on the Costa del Sol, Malaga is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Pablo Picasso.
Davis Cup returns to Malaga for the first time since September 2003, when Spain edged to a 3-2 victory over Argentina in the semi-finals. The region of Andalucía has played host to the competition on multiple occasions – including the 2004 and 2011 Davis Cup finals, which were played in Seville; and Spain’s most-recent Davis Cup tie, a 3-1 victory over Romania in the 2022 Qualifiers, which was held in Marbella.
The other three cities announced as group stage venues in 2022 – Bologna (Italy), Glasgow (Great Britain) and Hamburg (Germany) – will all host one group of four nations, with all matches taking place on indoor hard courts.
The bidding process to replace Malaga as one of the group stage hosts for the 2022 Finals is now open, with bids to be submitted by 21 April. Cities from the 13 nations which have qualified for the 2022 Finals, but are not already hosting a group stage, are eligible to submit bids: Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Kazakhstan, Korea Republic, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Sweden and USA.
The successful candidate city will be announced by the ITF and Kosmos Tennis prior to the draw for the Finals, taking place in Malaga on 26 April at 13:15 CET (11:15 GMT). The draw will be streamed live on the Davis Cup YouTube channel. Full information will be available on DavisCupFinals.com.
ITF President David Haggerty said: “The region of Andalucía has played an important role in the history of Davis Cup and Malaga is a perfect venue for the climax of this year’s men’s world cup of tennis. We are looking forward to an intense battle between the world’s best 16 teams this September to reach the knock-out stage for the chance to become world champions in November.” Davis Cup Finals tournament director Albert Costa added: “Malaga and Andalucía have opened their doors to host the knock-out stage of Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals and we will support them to become the tennis capital of the world hosting the eight best teams in November. We will work together with the partners to offer an unforgettable experience to players and fans from all over the world.”
