Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Marketers Game, Set For Inaugural ATP Cup Competition
By Barry Janoff
September 15, 2019: The first tennis event of 2020 is becoming even bigger than anticipated.
The Association of Tennis Professionals, which oversees men’s tennis, said that the premiere ATP Cup would feature 27 of the Top 30 ranked men in the world.
That includes the Top 5: No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic, No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 3 Roger Federer, No.4 Daniil Medvedev and No. 5 Dominic Thiem.
It will also include Andy Murray, former No. 1 in the world who currently is making a comeback in singles play following hip surgery earlier this year.
The $15 million hard court ATP Cup event is similar to the FIFA World Cup, matching 24 nations and their respective top players against each other in an elimination tournament.
The ATP Cup is scheduled for Jan. 3-12, 2020, as a lead-in to the Australian Open (Jan.20-Feb. 2), the first Grand Slam for the 2020 season.
“We’re delighted to see such a star-studded player field lining up for the inaugural ATP Cup,” Chris Kermode, ATP executive chairman and president, said via the organization.
“Our belief was that week one in the calendar, together with Tennis Australia, would work best for player scheduling . . . Having the top players competing in this new global event is critical, and the ATP Cup looks set to kick off the ATP Tour season in a big way in 2020.”
Early rounds of singles and doubles matches will be held in Australia in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.
The ATP Cup Final Eight, semi-finals and finals will be in Sydney. all to be played at Ken Rosewall Arena
The U.S. team will be lead by John inner and Taylor Fritz.
Host nation Australia will be represented by Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur.
The ATP Cup is being played in partnership with Tennis Australia.
Premier Partner for the event is Emirates. Platinum Partners include FedEx, Infosys and Peugeot.
Multi-media marketing launched with an intro spot, “ATP Cup For the Love of Country: It Just Got Real.”
Among the Top 18 nations now in the ATP Cup — plus host Australia — are (in alphabetical order): Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.
The remaining five nations will be named in November, based on world rankings.
The players will represent their nations, led by Djokovic (Serbia), Nadal (Spain), Federer (Switzerland), Medvedev (Russia), Thiem (Austria) and Murray (Great Britain).
Top-ranked players also scheduled to participate include Alexander Zverev (Germany), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece), Kei Nishikori (Japan), Fabio Fornini (Italy), Gael Monfils (France), David Goffin (Belgium), Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) and Kevin Anderson (South Africa).
The event marks the return of an ATP team competition for the first time since the ATP World Team Cup, which was held in Düsseldorf from 1978- 2012.
Kermode said that the ATP Cup provides a “fantastic opportunity for broadcasters to bring the excitement of world class tennis to hundreds of millions of people across the globe.”
According to Mark Webster, ATP Media CEO, "With its position in the calendar, the ATP Cup will enable broadcasters to kick off their ATP Tour season coverage in a manner they have not had before and, for the first time via ATP Media, to deliver a team event that brings a different dynamic to other tournaments.
Countries were drawn into one of six groups on Sept. 16, during a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House.
The public sale for tickets begins Sept. 18.
ATP Cup 2020 Official Draw
• Group A (Brisbane): Serbia, France, South Africa, To Be Named
• Group B (Perth): Spain, Japan, Georgia, To Be Named
• Group C (Sydney): Switzerland, Belgium, Great Britain, To Be Named
• Group D (Perth): Russia, Italy, US, To Be Named
• Group E (Sydney): Austria, Croatia, Argentina, To Be Named
• Group F (Brisbane): Germany, Greece, Canada, Australia