The ATP Cup was an international outdoor hard court men's tennis team tournament, which ran from 2020 to 2022.[2] The tournament was played across one or three Australian cities over ten days in the lead up to the Australian Open, and featured teams from 12, 16 or 24 countries. The event was the first ATP team competition since the ATP World Team Cup, which was held in Düsseldorf from 1978 to 2012.
| ATP Cup | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Defunct tennis tournament | |
| Founded | 15 November 2018 |
| Abolished | 7 August 2022 |
| Editions | 3 |
| Location | Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney Australia |
| Venue | Pat Rafter Arena Melbourne Park Perth Arena Ken Rosewall Arena |
| Surface | Hardcourt |
| Draw | 12–24 teams |
| Prize money | USD 10,000,000[1] |
| Current champion |  Canada (1st title) |
| Website | www |
History
editOn 2 July 2018, ATP director Chris Kermode announced that he had plans to organise a men's team tennis tournament in response to the Davis Cup changing their format six months earlier.[3]
The tournament at the time of the announcement had the name World Team Cup, taking from the previous World Team Cup that took place in Düsseldorf from 1978 to 2012.[4]
On 15 November, the ATP and Tennis Australia announced that the tournament would be known as the ATP Cup, with 24 teams playing at three cities in preparation for the Australian Open.[5] Those cities would later be revealed to be Sydney, Brisbane and Perth,[6] while the event's inclusion also forced the axing of the Hopman Cup.[7]
The tournament took place in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth, with Sydney the hosts of the quarter-finals onwards.[8][9] In 2021, the tournament was deferred several weeks, and moved to Melbourne Park with 12 teams, due to the restrictions on domestic travel in Australia stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The 2022 event would be held in Sydney with 16 teams as these restrictions were ongoing.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ITF barred Russia and Belarus from competing at the tournament.[11]
On 7 August 2022, Tennis Australia announced that the ATP Cup would be shut down, to be replaced by a mixed-gender United Cup from 2023.[12][13]
Qualification
editThe teams that participated in the Cup were determined by the singles ranking of their best player. In the week after the US Open, 18 teams were announced, based on the best player singles ranking. For a country to qualify, it had to have at least three players with ATP ranking, and two of them with singles ranking. The next six teams were announced the week of the ATP Finals. If the host did not qualify on the first deadline of September, it would be awarded a wild card, leaving only five spots for the November deadline.[14]
Tournament
editThe format saw 24 teams divided into six groups of four teams each. The teams faced in ties composed of two singles matches and one doubles match. The match between the No. 2 of each team opened the tie, then the No.1 of each team, and the doubles match closing the tie. The doubles match would be played regardless whether the tie is decided or not. The winner from each group was joined by the two best second placed teams in the quarterfinals of the tournament for three knock-out rounds, culminating in the champion being crowned.[14]
Prize money and trophies
editIn 2020 ABC Bullion, a Pallion company, was awarded the rights to make the Cup. The cups were produced by W.J. Sanders, a sister division within Pallion and took over 250 hours to produce.[15][citation needed]
Finals
edit| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 |  Serbia
|
 Spain
|
2–1 |
| 2021 |  Russia
|
 Italy
|
2–0 |
| 2022 | Canada
|
Spain
|
2–0 |
Results by nation
edit| Country | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rnd | W–L | Rnd | W–L | Rnd | W–L | Yrs | Won | W–L | |
 Argentina
|
QF | 2–2 | RR | 1–1 | RR | 2–1 | 3 | 0 | 5–4 |
 Australia
|
SF | 4–1 | RR | 1–1 | RR | 2–1 | 3 | 0 | 7–3 |
 Austria
|
RR | 1–2 | RR | 0–2 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 1–4 |
 Belgium
|
QF | 2–2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 2–2 |
 Bulgaria
|
RR | 2–1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 2–1 |
| Canada
|
QF | 2–2 | RR | 0–2 | W | 4–1 | 3 | 1 | 6–5 |
 Chile
|
RR | 0–3 | – | – | RR | 2–1 | 2 | 0 | 2–4 |
 Croatia
|
RR | 2–1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 2–1 |
 France
|
RR | 1–2 | RR | 1–1 | RR | 0–3 | 3 | 0 | 2–6 |
 Georgia
|
RR | 1–2 | – | – | RR | 0–3 | 2 | 0 | 1–5 |
 Germany
|
RR | 1–2 | SF | 2–1 | RR | 1–2 | 3 | 0 | 4–5 |
 Great Britain
|
QF | 2–2 | – | – | RR | 2–1 | 2 | 0 | 4–3 |
 Greece
|
RR | 0–3 | RR | 1–1 | RR | 1–2 | 3 | 0 | 2–6 |
| Italy
|
RR | 2–1 | F | 3–1 | RR | 1–2 | 3 | 0 | 6–4 |
 Japan
|
RR | 2–1 | RR | 0–2 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 2–3 |
 Moldova
|
RR | 0–3 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0–3 |
 Norway
|
RR | 1–2 | – | – | RR | 0–3 | 2 | 0 | 1–5 |
 Poland
|
RR | 1–2 | – | – | SF | 3–1 | 2 | 0 | 4–3 |
| Russia
|
SF | 4–1 | W | 4–0 | SF | 3–1 | 3 | 1 | 11–2 |
| Serbia
|
W | 6–0 | RR | 1–1 | RR | 1–2 | 3 | 1 | 8–3 |
 South Africa
|
RR | 2–1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 2–1 |
| Spain
|
F | 5–1 | SF | 1–2 | F | 4–1 | 3 | 0 | 10–4 |
 United States
|
RR | 0–3 | – | – | RR | 1–2 | 2 | 0 | 1–5 |
 Uruguay
|
RR | 0–3 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0–3 |
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "ATP Cup Points & Prize Money". ATP Cup. ATP. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "ATP Cup axed as Hopman Cup-like event to return to Perth". The West Australian. 7 September 2022. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ^ "Davis Cup: ITF plans to introduce 18-team World Cup of Tennis Finals in revamp". BBC. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "ATP World Team Cup: New 24-team tournament to launch in 2020". BBC. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "ATP Unveils 'ATP Cup' Team Event For 2020 Season". ATP World Tour. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ Barrett, Chris (7 January 2019). "Big guns to light up Sydney next year in new $22m ATP Cup finals". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ Weber, David (28 March 2019). "Hopman Cup axed from Perth in favour of men's-only ATP Cup tournament". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "ATP Cup Confirms Sydney And Brisbane As Hosts For 2020 - ATP Tour - Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "ATP Cup: Sydney and Brisbane to host A$22m event". BBC. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "Shortened ATP Cup coming after men's tour confirms Australian Open dates". The Age. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- ^ "Russia-Ukraine War: Sporting bodies come down heavy on Russia". cnbctv18.com. Associated Press. 8 March 2022.
- ^ "ATP Cup axed as Hopman Cup-like event to return to Perth". The West Australian. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Reuters (27 October 2022). "New $15m mixed-sex event in Australia to kick off 2023 season". Reuters. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ a b "ATP Cup FAQs". ATPtour.com. ATP Tour. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ "ABC Bullion Celebrates Australia".
External links
edit- Official website Archived 2 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine