Russian tennis players would be favorites in the Davis Cup for several years, says Tarpishchev

President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev explained to Metaratings.ru why the Russian team would be one of the Davis Cup favorites over the next few years.

— In 2021, Russia won two major international tournaments — the Davis Cup for men and the Billie Jean King Cup for women. If not for the suspension, would you have been able to repeat the success in 2022?

– With Billie Jean King, it’s probably more difficult, because for women, 15 people in the ranking are approximately the same, except for Schwentek. There is much more competition. We won largely due to the skills of the coaches. We are grateful to the Kunitsyn-Andreev alliance. Replacing Pavlyuchenkova with Samsonova in the final game is the art of the coach in the final match against Switzerland in 2021.

As for the guys, we have a flat bench and, with a high degree of probability, we would be favorites for several years. Favorite does not mean winner. I am a supporter of the old Davis Cup format. If we compare it with chess, now the tournament has been turned from chess in motion into a blitz. In a five-set match, firstly, the game is more interesting and the coach has more influence on the match. Secondly, stronger players win more often than in blitz.

The Russian team has won the Davis Cup three times – in 2002, 2006 and 2021. Three more times the Russian team reached the final of the tournament – in 1994, 1995 and 2007. In mid-March 2022, the Russian team was suspended from participating in the Davis Cup.