The Harry Hopman Cup was a successful international eight-nation invitational combined exhibition event staged in Western Australia from 1989-2019. But it was replaced on the pro tennis calendar in 2019 by ATP Cup, which was subsequently cancelled in August 2022 and replaced by a new January mixed gender team event called United Cup which will be played in January 2023 as a warm-up before 2023 Australian Open.
This week it was announced there will be a “new” Hopman Cup which will be played in Nice, France the week of July 19, 2023 during the same week as the traditional International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and Hall of Fame Open in Newport, RI, and long-time ATP events in Bastad and Gstaad.
The Hopman Cup concluded in style in 2019 when in the 31st edition of the tournament, a record crowd of 14,064 witnessed the USA vs. Switzerland clash, which included Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic. This historic clash of tennis titans achieved the highest attendance for a tennis match in Western Australian history. Federer and Bencic prevailed and as a result, Federer become the first player to win the Hopman Cup tournament three times. Federer and Bencic also became the first pairing to successfully defend the Hopman Cup title, after winning it in 2018.
Is it possible a Federer and Bencic reunion could highlight the revival of Hopman Cup in 2023? Stay tuned…
Belinda Bencic · France · Hopman Cup · Nice · Roger Federer
2 comments
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catherine · December 6, 2022 at 9:01 am
This sounds ridiculous. How many new ‘events’ can the tennis powers dream up and stuff into the overloaded and disorganised calendar ?
Hopman Cup was unique. What really is the point of the ‘United Cup ? ‘. Dual gender tournaments aren’t that popular. Sound of cash cows being milked dry.
Scoop Malinowski · December 6, 2022 at 9:48 am
Feel similar Catherine, I like Hopman Cup when and where it was, Perth in January was a perfect vibe and energy to start the new season. July could be a big miss. We’ll see. But one thing is for sure, all these new mixed team events shows the establishment knows they made a huge mistake in ending Hopman Cup in 2019.