Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, the two top-ranked players in the world, are the main attractions of the Davis Cup which attempts to re-establish itself this week after the cancellation of the 2020 event.
The Davis Cup, which began life back in 1900 as a bilateral contest between Britain and the United States, has had numerous makeovers in the past, most recently in 2019 when it was reshaped to resemble a world championships.
This year’s event will be played by 18 teams, initially in six groups, over 11 days across three cities.
The group stages, which start on Thursday, will be played in Madrid, Turin and Innsbruck where the surge in coronavirus cases and the subsequent lockdown in Austria means that matches will be played once again in an empty arena.
The semifinals and 5 December final will all be played in the Spanish capital, reward for the team that won the title two years ago.
Back then Spain could call on Rafael Nadal.
However, this time around the 35-year-old is out of action, recovering from a foot injury that restricted him to a single tournament since losing to Djokovic in the semifinals of Roland Garros.
