Valencia will once again deploy all its organisational capacity to host the Group B play-offs of the Group Stage of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals. The International Tennis Federation has the support of all three institutions as was demonstrated at the official presentation of the competition today at the Mercado de Colón. The President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón Guixot, accompanied by Vicente Mompó (President of the Diputació de Valencia) and María José Catalá (Mayoress of Valencia) chaired the event today along with Kelly Fairweather (CEO of the International Tennis Federation) and Feliciano López (Tournament Director).
The Group B matches will be held from 10 to 15 September at the Pabellón Fuente de San Luis, with Spain, France, Czech Republic and Australia, the current runners-up. The top two nations from Group B will advance to the Final 8 to be played in November in Malaga, along with the winners and runners-up from the other three Groups who will compete in Bologna (Group A), Zhuhai (Group C) and Manchester (Group D).
This is the match schedule for the six days of the Group Stage in Valencia:
- Tuesday 10 September Australia vs France (at 16:00)
- Wednesday 11 September Czech Republic vs Spain (at 16:00)
- Thursday 12 September Australia vs Czech Republic (at 16:00)
- Friday 13 September France vs Spain (at 16:00)
- Saturday 14 September France vs Czech Republic (at 16: 00)
- Sunday 15 September Australia vs Spain (at 11:00)
Feliciano Lopez, Davis Cup Finals tournament director, said that ‘2023 was my first year as Davis Cup Finals tournament director and I was privileged to be here for the Group Stage event. It was a great success and we were able to experience the best of this competition. It was a shame that Spain was eliminated at this stage last year, but I know that David and his players will give their all to get to Malaga this year. The fantastic and passionate support of the Valencian public can be decisive for Spain to make it in September’.
For Kelly Fairweather, CEO of the International Tennis Federation, ‘It is a pleasure to be back in Valencia today, we are very much looking forward to the Davis Cup Group B event here in September. I would like to thank the Generalitat, the Diputación and the City of Valencia for their warm welcome and continued support. In Valencia we know that during all the days of the event we can count on a great crowd and atmosphere both inside the stadium and in the city, so it is going to be a great week. The tradition and knowledge of tennis in Valencia is latent.’
The President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón Guixot, said that ’Valencia is once again committed to sport and here we are, the three institutions are perfectly aligned. We know that we are representing a love, a fan base and a trajectory that demands sport and demands tennis at the highest level. And Valencia deserves no less. This competition is an extraordinary platform to play in the big leagues of international sporting events. There are the audience figures and the visibility that makes sport such a clear, pure and healthy message as sport is’.
The mayoress, María Jose Catalá stressed that ‘the city and the province of Valencia vibrated in 2023 with Roberto Bautista, with Djokovic himself. This 2024, we hope to be able to see Alcaraz, even Rafa. It would be nice if he could close his time with our national team in our country. Why not? ‘
In addition, María José Catalá thanked the organisers for their commitment to the city because ’we are the city of sport. We have the experience, the infrastructures, the hotel and organisational capacity, and public institutions that push and support sport. It is no coincidence that our city hosts top-level tennis tournaments such as the Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals. These major events ensure an important return for the city and project our image worldwide.
In conclusion, the Mayoress pointed out that the Davis Cup had an economic impact last year of 9 million euros; more than 1,700 overnight stays (90% hotel occupancy) and an audience of 280 million spectators worldwide.
Likewise, Vincent Mopó, president of the Valencia Provincial Council, added that ‘from the institutions we are committed to sport. We are committed to events that position the Valencian Community as a leading region. In the case of tennis, here we have had great examples that have taken the name of our land around the world, reaching the elite, such as David Ferrer. But we are not doing badly. The youngsters are coming on strong, like Pedro Martínez Portero, who today, by the way.
