Croatia captain Krajan: It's not the Davis Cup anymore

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Zagreb, February 5: Croatia captain Zeljko Krajan believes tennis' national team tournament should be renamed, saying it was "not the Davis Cup".

The remodelled and much-criticised Davis Cup started last week, with 12 more nations booking their spot in the Finals in Madrid in November.

Defending champions Croatia will be among 18 teams playing over one week, with ties now best-of-three matches, which have also been reduced to best-of-three sets.

While unwilling to compare, Krajan – who led his nation to glory by beating France in the final in November – said the new format was no longer the Davis Cup.

"It's tough to say it's not good or it's good, it's just not comparable with the one that was working until now so it's just something totally new," he told Omnisport.

"It's not the same and I wouldn't call it the Davis Cup anymore, it's not the Davis Cup for me, it's something else.

"Davis Cup we all know how it was and what system it was and [it was a nation] playing at home every tie, semi-finals and finals."

Krajan admitted the previous format was tough on players but said he will miss the special format of the Davis Cup.

"I have to support the players because I'm in front of the players, my team, but I'm also a fan of tennis," Krajan said.

"Davis Cup is something [else]. I'm going to miss those matches that were lasting five, six hours and those doubles matches lasting five, six, seven hours, for sure, it was something special."

While Krajan feels the new format has potential, he believes Croatia will always have a special part in history thanks to their 2018 success.

"This was the last Davis Cup that we know in this format and everybody will remember who the last winner in this kind of format was," he said.

Croatia are the second seeds for the Davis Cup Finals and will be drawn into one of six groups of three.