A World Cup for Tennis?

This weekend, Davis Cup teams from the United States and Australia will square off in Brisbane, but few Americans—even ardent tennis fans—will be paying attention. This could be blamed on drastic time-zone disparities (though the Australian Open this winter attracted the most U.S. viewers in years); or the nagging lack of Americans at the top of the men’s game (though, at the moment, Jack Sock is No. 7 in the world in A.T.P. points earned this calendar year); or the fact that sports fans sick to death of the gray, gray winter have both baseball and the Masters to choose from (though there is talk among golf nuts that, thanks to a February heat wave, the azaleas at Augusta National are already past their peak). But the demise of interest in the Davis Cup is not just an American phenomenon, and it is not only a matter of viewership. Two months ago, in the first round of international Davis Cup play, Novak Djokovic was the only top-ten player to participate.