Dubai: The vice-president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Anil Khanna, strongly believes that the Davis Cup’s new avatar will transform the game in the future.

The Davis Cup is set to be transformed into an 18-nation World Cup-style event starting this season. The new tournament — named the World Cup of Tennis Finals — is expected to feature the game’s leading players and be held in one location over seven days at the end of each season. The competition will involve a round-robin stage with the top eight teams advancing to the knockout rounds.

Backed by Spain and FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique’s Kosmos Group, the ITF has announced a 25-year partnership, worth $3 billion (Dhs 11 billion) to fund the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has announced that Sydney and Brisbane will host the it’s new ATP Cup that is scheduled to start from 2020. This competition will see more than 100 players from 24 nations vying for a $15 million in prize money and 750 ATP Ranking Points.

Anil Khanna, one of three ITF vice presidents along with Katrina Adams (USA) and Rene Stammbach (Switzerland) under president David Haggerty, now wants better sense to prevail. “We can only hope for better sense to prevail,” Khanna told Gulf News.

“We have already begun talks, and in the future too we want the two governing bodies (ITF and ATP) to continue talking so that we can come to a favourable conclusion,” he added.