The Hopman Cup returns after four-year absence

The mixed-gender event returns this week, with the international team format now being held at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club

Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic with the 2019 Hopman Cup trophy Image Credit: Imago / Panoramic

Jamie Malachy

July 19, 2023

After a four-and-a-half year absence, the Hopman Cup returns to the tennis calendar this week for its 32nd edition.

The ITF-organised event is an international tournament, consisting of mixed-gender teams representing tennis nations from across the globe.

It is taking place between 19th and 23rd July at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club, as part of a five-year partnership between the International Tennis Federation and Barcelona-based company Tennium, which operate multiple ATP and WTA tournaments.

The event used to be held in Perth, with its inaugural edition taking place in 1989, running for a span of 30 years until it was scrapped in 2019 – primarily to make way for the ATP Cup, which took its slot in the calendar for three years.

This season, the ATP Cup was then replaced by another mixed-gender international team event – the United Cup, which took place across several different Australian cities to kick off the new season.

Why have both the Hopman Cup and United Cup?

Some might point to some flawed scheduling given that, as a consequence of the fragmentation of governance in tennis, the inaugural United Cup and the relaunch of the Hopman Cup are taking place in the same year.

The United Cup is a jointly backed venture between the WTA and the ATP (as well as Tennis Australia), in what was rightly viewed as a huge step forward for alignment between the two tours.

However, the ITF are still within their rights to provide international tournaments of their own, hence the reboot of the Hopman Cup this year despite the fact that the tennis calendar already has a mixed-gender international tournament.

The two should be able to co-exist, as they take place at different times of the season and there are key differences between the tournaments.

Most importantly, each Hopman Cup team consists of only two players from a certain nation, whereas the United Cup has several.

Who’s playing?

There are six teams in this year’s edition. France, consisting of Richard Gasquet and Alize Cornet. Spain, represented by Carlos Alcaraz and Rebeka Masarova. Switzerland, being made up of Leandro Riedi and Celine Naef. Holger Rune and Clara Tauson make up the team for Denmark. David Goffin and Elise Mertens represent Belgium, while Borna Coric and Donna Vekic are waving the flag for Croatia.

In one group are Denmark, Switzerland, and France who will all compete against each other. While Belgium, Spain, and Croatia will contend the second group.

The top-placed teams from each group will advance to the final, scheduled to take place on Sunday.

Switzerland are the current holders, as Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic took the title home for their country in the last edition back in 2019, beating Germany – represented by Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev – in the final.