The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier announced today that the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, has been selected as the site for the 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff between the United States and Slovakia, Sept. 12-14. The arena will feature an indoor hard court and will have an expected capacity of approximately 7,000.
“Chicago is a great tennis town with passionate fans and we are looking forward to bringing Davis Cup to the city for the first time in more than 80 years,” said U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier. “This is a very important tie. I know we’ll bring our best and we know that Slovakia will play us tough, so we can’t wait to get out there and play in front of an enthusiastic, patriotic crowd. Chicago will be a great host for our guys and we hope everyone comes out to cheer the U.S. to victory.”
Tickets will go on sale in mid-July. For more information, fans can visit www.usta.com/daviscup or call 1-888-484-USTA (8782). The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the USTA.
The best-of-five match series begins Friday, Sept. 12, with two singles matches featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles match, and the final day of play on Sunday includes two “reverse singles” matches, where the No. 1 players square off followed by the No. 2 players going head to head. All matches are best-of-five sets until one country wins three matches (then they are best-of-three sets).
“We are delighted the USTA has selected the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates to host this prestigious event. It will be a great opportunity for all sports fans throughout the Chicagoland area to enjoy world class tennis," said Hoffman Estates Mayor William D. McLeod.
The U.S. is 110-18 all-time in Davis Cup ties played at home, playing in 79 different venues in 34 states. The U.S. Davis Cup team has made just one appearance in Illinois, sweeping Japan in the America Zone final in 1928 at the Town & Fitness Club in Chicago. This will be the fourth consecutive home tie for the U.S. Davis Cup team.
The U.S., seeded No. 5 for the Playoff, holds a 2-0 record over Slovakia in Davis Cup. The Americans last faced the Slovaks in the 2003 World Group Playoff in Bratislava, where the U.S. won, 3-2, behind a team led by Andy Roddick, who won the US Open singles title the week before. Mardy Fish and Bob and Mike Bryan also competed on the squad. The U.S. also played Slovakia in the 2002 World Group First Round in Oklahoma City, with the U.S. winning the tie, 5-0.
Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage of the U.S. vs. Slovakia. The winner of this tie qualifies for the 2015 Davis Cup World Group and is eligible to compete for the Davis Cup title next year. The losing nation will compete in their respective Zone Group I competition in 2015.
The site selection is subject to final approval by the International Tennis Federation.
Founded in 1900, Davis Cup is the world’s largest annual international men’s team competition with 130 nations competing in 2014. The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles. The U.S. holds a 213-68 all-time Davis Cup record and owns the longest uninterrupted run in the World Group, dating back to 1989. For more information, including access to player and historical Davis Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/daviscup or www.daviscup.com. Follow the U.S. Davis Cup team on Twitter @USDavisCupTeam.
Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup team.
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level, from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 750,000 members, it invests 100 percent of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s national charitable foundation, USTA Serves, provides grants and scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.
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