Australia to face Bosnians in Adelaide Davis Cup tie

SYDNEY: Australia will attempt to qualify for a revamped Davis Cup that they bitterly opposed against Bosnia and Herzegovina on hard courts in Adelaide in February, it was announced Thursday.

Under a new format controversially adopted by the International Tennis Federation in association with an investment group headed by Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, the competition will now be decided at a week-long season-ending 18-team event.

It will be held in Madrid in November.Six teams are already guaranteed a spot with Australia — the second most successful Davis Cup nation behind the United States — needing to qualify.

The new format will see them play the Bosnians in best of three-set matches — as opposed to the previous five-set matches — over February 1 and 2, with two singles played on the first day and a doubles and the reverse singles on the second.