The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier announced that San Diego’s Petco Park has been selected as the site for the 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie between the United States and Great Britain, January 31-February 2.
The rubbers will be played on a clay court in a temporary stadium built in left field, which will have an expected capacity of approximately 8,000. It will be the first time Davis Cup is played in an open air baseball stadium in the United States and the first time the U.S. Davis Cup team hosted a tie on clay since the 1992 semifinals (U.S. def. Sweden, 4-1 in Minneapolis).
Reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is expected to compete for Great Britain.
(A mockup of the Davis Cup venue at Petco Park. Click for a higher resolution image.)
The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the USTA.
“Our squad is ready to go up against a tough adversary in the British squad,” said U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier. “Andy Murray is one of the strongest players in the sport and we expect our home crowd to come out and support us in what will be a thrilling Davis Cup tie.”
The best-of-five rubber series begins Friday, January 31, with two singles rubbers, featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles rubber, and the final day of play on Sunday includes two “reverse singles” rubbers, where the No. 1 players square off followed by the No. 2 players going head-to-head. All rubbers are best-of-five sets until one country wins three rubbers.
“We are proud to bring Davis Cup to San Diego and tennis to Petco Park,” said Padres President & CEO Mike Dee. “This ballpark was built on the promise of being a multi-use venue that would bring year-round events to San Diego. We look forward to seeing the transformation of left field into a state-of-the-art clay court tennis venue.”
Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage of the U.S. vs. Great Britain Davis Cup match. The winner of the United States and Great Britain tie will play either Italy or Argentina in the quarterfinals, April 4-6.
Topics: 10sballs.com, 2014 Davis Cup, Andy Murray, Bnp Paribas, Davis Cup, Jim Courier, Petco Park, Tennis, Tennis News, Usta, Wimbledon