Other website sections

»Sports Market Reports

»Sports Jobs

»Tenders

»Directory

»Conferences

Talks have taken place about launching a Tennis World Cup in a bid to attract a younger audience to the sport.

The Times reports that the plan, which is the brainchild of an Australian sports marketing agency called Gemba, has been presented to the All England Club, the United States Tennis Association and Tennis Australia, as well as leading players such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The biennial 10-day men-only tournament, which would be branded as the Grand Slam of Nations, would involve 32 teams and feature shorter matches with each nation having to use at least two players per tie.

The idea is still in its early stages but is thought to have also been discussed with the ATP Tour and television executives, who believe a men-only competition would attract a larger audience.

The World Cup proposal could spell the end of the Davis Cup but has been welcomed by players and industry executives.

Andy Murray told The Times: “I am a great fan of the Davis Cup, but if a decision was taken to drop it, or something else could change in the calendar, then a World Cup is a fascinating idea.”

Craig Tiley, the tournament director of the Australian Open, said: “We think the concept is innovative, refreshing and thoughtfully put together. Any initiative that will further expose our sport and will grow its participation, particularly in Australia but also worldwide, has to be great for tennis.”

Gemba’s partners include James Hird, a former Australian Rules footballer, Ben Crowe, previously an executive at Nike, and Robert Mills, formerly of Adidas.

Hird added: “In the new world order, sports must compete with Hollywood blockbusters, video games, the world wide web, TV and music for a slice of global consumers’ attention.

“Today’s consumers want their entertainment in a different form. Of course, the pride of tennis are the grand slam tournaments and we would never do anything to change that, but we are conscious of the need for tennis to bring in an entire new breed of followers – the youngster who doesn’t have the attention span to watch five-set matches.

“No idea can have legs unless the players commit to it and want it – without them it would never work. But our initial feedback has been very good. We are conscious of the fact that we do not want this event to be an extra burden on the players, so the desire is to find a new place for it in the calendar.”