Response To Silly Reno Davis Cup Criticism

by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

So a fellow named Rich Neher runs a newsletter called “Tennis Club Business” that lands in my inbox every few weeks or so. A recent edition discussed critically the U.S. Tennis Association’s decision to host the USA vs. Colombia Davis Cup series in Reno, Nevada, which attracted my attention not only because of my fondness for Davis Cup, but because I was there! The Tennis Club Business content veers heavily toward a glass half empty approach to the USTA and this story – which you can read here  https://www.tennisclubbusiness.com/feature-rn-0422?utm_campaign=23fd5cbf-c4f8-480c-988d-043d13b95d01&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=8a134d2b-bffb-49d1-b6e5-6a970f4e7c90 was no different. The article was a wee-bit off base and a wee-bit illogical, so I decided to respond to the article and have posted the letter below

Rich,

I just read your article about Davis Cup in Reno and I feel compelled to respond. When I saw that the USA vs. Colombia Davis Cup tie was in Reno, I was so excited that I booked a plane ticket and went!

I had not been to a U.S. Davis Cup match in 10 years and had never been to the Reno-Lake Tahoe area. One of the great aspects of Davis Cup, I have always felt, is that it takes you to places that you otherwise might not visit! Of course, for background, I was the U.S. Davis Cup team press officer for the USTA from 1997 to 2005 and now run Vero Beach, Florida $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures event that benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation.

The top objective for the USTA in a Davis Cup match is… TO WIN! (You play to win the game! Hello!) A fast indoor court provides for a good environment to beat Colombia and advance, which is what they did by a 4-0 margin. You suggest for a site Miami, which would be presumably slower conditions outdoors which would give Colombia more of a chance. You said Colombians would come and wave their flags in Miami, but it is a USA HOME TIE. Team USA wants to play in front of a pro-American crowd, not a pro-Colombia crowd. You say “Tens of thousands” of Colombians would attend in Miami? When you say “TENS” of thousands, you mean at least 20,000 fans, which would be the minimum plural amount of 10,000 fans. There are not even 20,000 fans going daily to the stadium court at the Miami Open, featuring the world’s top men’s and women’s players, let alone a two-day match featuring not even one top 10 player and one team whose highest ranked player is No. 250 in the world. A Davis Cup match in Colombia wouldn’t attract tens of thousands of Colombians. Davis Cup has only attracted more than 20,000 daily fans a handful of times in its over 100-year history. When the teams next play and it is in Colombia, they can bring out the flags in Bogota.

The atmosphere in Reno was great in the arena with USA Cheerleaders, the U.S. Davis Cup team mascot “Ace” the bald eagle, the University of Nevada band and the famed “Netheads” U.S. Davis Cup cheer squad. The American players loved it and it had the feel of the “old” Davis Cup again.

The next objectives for the USTA with home Davis Cup matches is not lose money (and/or make money) and use the matches to further promote tennis and Davis Cup. You mention the “site bid fees” that cities put up to host the match and I’m sure Reno put in an attractive bid. Reno has not been shy that they want to attract more sporting events to its city for economic and promotional reasons so Davis Cup fit the bill. Hotel rooms were likely part of the deal and an attractive arena deal (rental). Everything was relatively inexpensive in Reno (except gas) but the hotel was a short walk to the arena! Super easy! I went out for a walk around downtown and saw Rajeev Ram walking down the street to the arena.

You say “Miami” blindly but do you also know how much hotel room nights are in Miami? Well, $400 a night is a bargain this time of year! Not fan friendly! (Great hotels in Reno were barely $100 a night) Is the venue for free? Is there a bid fee? Who gets the parking revenue and food and beverage revenue? What is the venue in Miami? Crandon Park? (A lot of politics to get tennis there, apparently and has it been properly maintained for a world class event since the Miami Open left in 2018? I’m not so sure.) What other venue is there in Miami? Hard Rock Stadium certainly don’t want to “spoil their party” before the Miami Open starts two weeks later. It’s not so easy as just saying “Let’s play it in Miami!” Also, is it really good for the game to oversaturate a market (Miami) with so much tennis in a short period of time? Not smart!

You write, “Similar to the San Diego debacle a few years ago, where some braindead Poobah decided on bringing Italian clay into Petco Stadium, they had to build a court inside the Events Center and laid it out with carpet. Who does that?” Well, you know builds tennis courts where tennis courts are organically? Try Madison Square Garden in New York City for many events including the year-end men’s and women’s events for decades, the O2 Arena in London for the year-end championships and the upcoming Laver Cup, the Houston Astrodome for the “Battle of the Sexes,” I could go on and on because it is done ALL. THE. TIME. The Petco Park Davis Cup was also awesome, to host tennis in a non-traditional tennis environment (like the Houston Astrodome for the “Battle of the Sexes” again, for example.) The only bad element to that tie for the USTA was bad luck that Team USA’s top player John Isner was injured and didn’t play and the USA lost.

Davis Cup has never been played in Reno and there is no big time tennis there. So it was a good choice to introduce big-time pro tennis to that market. The Saturday crowd was about capacity and loud (The first day was Friday, by ITF Rules, so problematic for people to get off work or school to come out and it was a bit light that day, as was kind of expected.)The crowd was enthusiastic and diverse and many probably had never been to a big time tennis event before. Davis Cup (and the women’s equivalent Billie Jean King Cup) works best in small to medium-size cities. Until the U.S. has a team with multiple super-star Grand Slam tournament champions again, teams with players ranked No. 20 to 50 is not going to penetrate or make a big buzz in big market cities with NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL teams among other entertainment attractions to compete with, like Miami. Davis Cup over the last 15 years has flourished in cities like Winston-Salem, N.C. and Austin, Texas and Boise, Idaho and Portland, Oregon.

To boot, U.S. Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish wanted to find a venue that was also in the same time zone and near Indian Wells to make it easier for the U.S. players to travel and adapt there for the tournament the next week. And look what happened? U.S. team member Taylor Fritz, buoyed by his Davis Cup week in Reno, was the unexpected and much-celebrated singles winner in Indian Wells in what was the biggest tournament victory in singles by and American man in 15 years. That’s amazing news for American tennis!

So in my book, Davis Cup in Reno was a win-win!

-Randy Walker