Argentina’s win over Croatia in the Davis Cup final has led to euphoria. It has also had some hard-hitting ramifications about the tournament’s continuity and its relevance in the ever-growing tennis calendar.

Compared to its previous years, the 2016 edition of the Davis Cup underwent a couple of massive changes. One was the institution of the fifth set tie-break, which meant that players did not have to engage in tiring and lengthy match proceedings. The other was the stoppage of allocation of ranking points for players playing in Davis Cup ties, a move that was definitively detrimental given that deserving players missed out on the chance to push their ranking upwards.

A lack of incentive

Juan Martin del Potro, the hero of the final between Croatia and Argentina, is one such player. A huge chunk of del Potro’s comeback this year came as a result of his successes in the Davis Cup – in Argentina’s semi-final tie against Great Britain and this past week, in the final – and at the Rio Olympics, where he won the silver medal.

In spite of these laudable wins, the 28-year-old has ended on the losing side of the bargain with none of his wins amounting to much in the ranking points’ stake. As a result, while he could have broken into the top-25 of the ATP rankings had these events – specifically the Davis Cup – had continued awarding ranking points, which would have seen him be seeded at the 2017 Australian Open, the Tandil native will have to be content with simply re-entering the top-40 rankings’ bracket.

Losing more ground?

More contentiousness lies ahead for the team-based event and its women’s counterpart, the Fed Cup, with the International Tennis Federation chief David Haggerty intent on revamping them. “We want to increase and elevate the Davis Cup and Federation Cup competitions,” Haggerty had mentioned in September this year, announcing his immediate short-term plans for the tournament structures. “We’ve had a lot of meetings in New York with the tours and constituents, broadcast rights holders, and our sponsors about the possibility of having a neutral final – or final four – as early as 2018. It’s something that our board has said to go ahead and look into.”

Haggerty’s proposal has divided opinions all around, including the players themselves. Andy Murray, not only defended its existing format, but also countered the ITF chief’s remarks by stating, “I am not sold on the neutral venue. I do love the home and away atmosphere that we get in the Davis Cup. It is something that we as tennis players are not really used to because we are playing in neutral venues a lot of the time and the home and away aspect is something that I enjoy and makes it special.”

The Scotsman, a strong proponent of the tournament, was not wrong in his assessment. And this was proved over the course of these past three days, in which the raucousness of the visiting Argentinian horde downed the zealousness of the Croatian rooters. So much so that the smattering of white-and-blue looked to coat the intensity of the stadium towards the end, as Argentina swept past Croatia emphatically.

Why the fans matter

Davis Cup matches often have a notoriety with regard to the fans, some of whom who throng to the stands looking to disrupt proceedings with their catcalls and over-enthusiastic rooting. The presence of the bi-partisan crowd this time in Arena Zagreb however put out a firm indication of what would be lost if Davis Cup matches were to be held in a neutral venue, where fans of the hosting city will not be as thoroughly immersed or vested in the outcome of the tie, as the current audiences are. Not only those of the hosting nation, but even those travelling to be with their team.

The manner of outcome of this year’s Davis Cup final then seems fitting. Any other result, even a 3-2 result in favour of Croatia, would not have brought out such an emotional connect. Considering that even Diego Maradona wanted to revel in the experience of seeing his country win, it should not be a hardship for the ITF to ensure the sanctity and singularity of the one-of-a-kind tournament remains intact, unaffected by its own seemingly mercenary aspirations.