What are the main challenges connected with playing in Davis and Fed Cup?

The Davis Cup was established in 1899 by four Harvard students. The organizer – Dwight F. Davis gathered some British students, formulated the rules, had a trophy made and the rest is history. The US since has won 32 titles and Great Britain has 10. Fed Cup was started in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It was called the federation cup but by 1995 was shortened to Fed Cup.

Every year the Davis and Fed Cups attract tons of fans and tennis pros in many countries. What is the magic of it? The idea is that fans and everyone gets to see their favorite players not only playing against others but for their own country. The idea is quite simple, but what goes into the challenges of players on the ATP/WTA/ITF tours are asked to play for their country are all too complex and at times too burdensome, despite the fun. Scheduling is one of the challenges for players playing in the Cups to work them into their plan. The problem is where the location will be and if big name players find that the place is out of their destination, they most likely won’t want to commit to play and often without their presence the Cups will eventually lose their prestigious glory. Mary Jo Fernandez, Captain of the USA Fed Cup team says “We didn’t find out we were coming to Australia until the 2nd week of February…it’s not the most convenient…when everyone is heading to Europe or in the States”. Jim Courier, captain of the USA Davis Cup says “It’s been challenging for us…the makeup of our team has been fluid because of injuries…it’s been tough to develop a tight-knit group, which in my experience is helpful in terms of getting on a bit of a …

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