Davis Cup lacking the biggest names in tennis

The Davis Cup is marketed as "The World Cup of Tennis." That insinuates that the best of the best compete every year to win the title of best men’s tennis nation in the world.

But is that really true?

In short: no.

To be fair, the winning Davis Cup countries over the past few years have earned their titles, but their competition has not been as tough as it could have been. Scheduling and format have been blamed time and time again, with U.S. captain Jim Courier calling for it to be changed into an annual two-week event, and some smaller changes seeming to be just around the corner.

"They need the top players playing because it is not as special as it used to be," Jamie Murray said, while voicing his displeasure with how the plans for changes have been orchestrated.

Since Switzerland won the title in 2014, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have played just one tie, a 2015 World Group Play-off, which was to keep the country in the competition’s top tier rather than compete for a championship.

World No.2-ranked Novak Djokovic helped Serbia capture the Cup in 2010 and reach the final in 2013, but then he skipped 2014 and only played in the first rounds in 2015 and 2016.

The top players have all shown that they want to win the Davis Cup at some point in their careers, but that’s about it. Just ask Federer.

“It wasn't a difficult decision. I have played for so long, and I think by winning it I can finally do whatever I please, to be quite honest,” Federer said in 2015 about not playing Switzerland’s first-round tie. “It's been a big burden for me throughout my career and one of the things that have caused more difficulties in my life than many other things, I must say, because I always feel there is so much guilt put on you from the Federation or from the ITF more so than anybody else.

"So I'm happy I was able to finally tick that off and do it altogether.”

That isn’t exactly an enthusiastic endorsement from the greatest tennis player of all time.

It shows in the tournament’s results, too.

Over the last four years, there has not been one repeat finalist. This year, neither the defending champion (Argentina) or runner-up (Croatia) made it out of the first round. The leading players for their respective nations (Juan Martin del Potro and Croatia's Marin Cilic) did not compete.

This past weekend, world No. 1 Andy Murray did not play for Great Britain against France (due to injury) and Spain's leading man Rafael Nadal was a no-show against Serbia, missing an opportunity to compete against Djokovic in a tie that surely would have brought more attention to the competition.

France moved on against Britain despite missing a quartet of its players including Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet. Italy, notably missing Fabio Fognini, fell to a Belgian team led by David Goffin. Belgium takes on Australia in the semifinals, while France will face Serbia.

Which big names will be there to try to put their country in the final in September? Who knows. The problem remains, in a team competition that is supposed to name the best men’s tennis nation in the world, nobody knows for sure who's going to show up.