Alexander Zverev has joined Carlos Alcaraz in calling for major changes to be made to the Davis Cup. Previously, teams would compete throughout the year in home-and-away ties to reach the final. The last two nations standing would face off in a series of matches at the end of the season, with one of the countries hosting the tie.

Nowadays, nations compete to be one of the ‘Final 8’ who qualify for the Davis Cup Finals – a series of knockout ties held in one host city at the end of the season. This year, the Davis Cup Finals are being staged in Bologna. However, with the tennis season becoming longer overall, top players like Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti have decided not to represent their country this year.

Alcaraz recently proposed that the Davis Cup be staged every two years instead, making it tougher to win the team tournament and enticing the stars to compete for their countries. The world No. 1 – who will be part of Spain’s squad next week – said: “I think playing every year, I mean, it is not as good as it might be if you’re playing every two or three years.

“I think if the tournament is played like every two years or every three years, the players, the commitment of the players, it’s going to be even more because it’s unique, it’s different. You’re not able to play every year.”

Zverev has now added fuel to the fire, suggesting that the prestigious tournament had become an “exhibition” and needed to revert to the old home-and-away format.

“The true Davis Cup is the home-and-away ties. For me, if you’re in the final of Davis Cup, I’m more than happy to play one more week after the [ATP] World Tour Finals. But to play quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals, I’m not too happy about because it can be a waste of time. If you lose in the semifinals, if you lose in quarterfinals, for me it’s a waste of time,” the world No. 3 claimed.

“In a way, yeah, the real Davis Cup is the atmosphere. To play against Italy in Italy, it would be a completely different atmosphere than playing Italy in Spain. I played against Nadal in a bullfighting arena. That’s for me the real Davis Cup.

“I always keep my opinion. I always said my opinion over the last couple years. I don’t think this Davis Cup is the real Davis Cup. It’s an exhibition tournament in a way that is called Davis Cup.”

Zverev will still be representing Germany in Bologna next week, but he’s not happy about it. He added: “I’ll play it now because my teammates and my German colleagues really asked me to play because they feel like everybody’s getting older.

“[Jan-Lennard] Struffy doesn’t have many opportunities anymore. The doubles guys don’t have many opportunities anymore. I’m playing it just because of that reason. For me, this has nothing to do with Davis Cup.”

Meanwhile, world No. 2 Sinner, who helped Italy win the Davis Cup Finals in 2023 and 2024 when they were staged in Malaga, has also called for a return to home-and-away ties. The Italian explained: “I never unfortunately played the Davis Cup, the real Davis Cup, where it’s away, playing in Argentina or in Brazil where you have the whole stadium not against you but for the other team. I think this is Davis Cup, you know?”