Stan Wawrinka has taken intention at Gerard Pique on social media forward of Switzerland’s match in opposition to France within the Davis Cup. The ex-Barcelona footballer has come underneath hearth after chopping shoer his partnership with the competitors earlier this yr, 20 years earlier than the deal was set to run out.

It was introduced in 2018 that Kosmos, based by Pique, would associate with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for the subsequent 25 years to run the Davis Cup. The Spaniard promised to fund the undertaking and pump roughly $3 billion into the game to permit for enlargement.

However, earlier this yr it was introduced that the partnership had already concluded, with the ITF releasing a press release that outlined that they'd beforehand negotiated a ‘strong deal’ and would proceed to look to ship one other ‘spectacular’ Davis Cup.

The affect of Kosmos/Pique remains to be clear to see throughout the competitors although, and Wawrinka has not shied away from addressing the problems created by the 36-year-old. One of probably the most important adjustments made while the partnership with ITF was alive was shifting away from ‘home and away’ ties, which performed a central function in creating an environment for matches and permitting the game to develop.

Instead, all matches are actually performed on the identical venue and consequently, loads of video games battle to seize the eye of native followers who do not need an attachment to the gamers that includes, particularly through the early phases of the event when there's much less significance. Wawrinka highlighted the difficulty forward of Switzerland’s match in opposition to France on Tuesday afternoon when posting a video of the sector in Manchester, England, on X (Twitter).

Only a sprinkling of followers had been sat within the stands, with rows upon rows of empty seats clear to see within the footage, additional reiterating the purpose that the shift away from ‘home and away’ ties was a step backwards for the competitors.

Wawrinka captioned the submit: “Thank you @3gerardpique @ITFTtennis! France vs Switzerland in Manchester lol,” accompanied with an offended face emoji and a facepalming particular person, with virtually 12,000 customers liking the submit and the video racking up over two million views.

Wawrinka has made it no secret that he enjoys competing within the Davis Cup and he can be hopeful that the outdated format of the competitors returns. He starred with Roger Federer in Switzerland’s solely earlier victory within the competitors again in 2014, beating France in Lille – and Tuesday’s match is the primary time that the 2 sides will conflict since that recreation.