The French legend gave the media lots to chew on in his farewell press conference

The winds of change are blowing hard in Lille, France, and after the dust settled and Croatia was crowned the 2018 champion, the stark reality set in.

The Davis Cup as we know it is over.

Even during the trophy ceremony on Sunday Nicolas Mahut could be seen giving ITF President David Haggerty a piece of his mind.

And he wasn't the only one with strong words on offer.

Tennis Express

Just after the final, Yannick Noah said farewell to the media after his final tie as French Captain, and gave them plenty to chew on as well.

"It's very confusing,” he said of the future of Davis Cup. “Nobody knows what will happen. I hope, in any case, that the money promised, will serve small countries. I hope so.”

Noah, who coached the French to three Davis Cup titles over the course of his three stints and nine years at the helm of Les Bleus, leaves with a bittersweet feeling about the soon to be revamped competition.

Call it anything you like, he says, just not Davis Cup.


“To be continued,” Noah added. “But do not call this Davis Cup competition yet! Matches in two sets? It will not be the Davis Cup. Those who still call this competition by name are liars! Nothing will be the same again.”

Noah expressed doubts that the competition will have the same emotional tone now that the final will be an 18-team affair at a neutral venue.

"I said I'm disgusted and upset to his face,” he said. “It's the truth. It's the way I feel. Everyone has a right to feel differently but I feel I owe the Davis Cup because it means so much to me as a player, as a spectator. We have people who have decided it doesn't matter, I don't know if they don't know, or they don't care. But as I told the president I'm not from his world."

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