Tennis, the Hopman Cup returns from July 19 to 23 in France

Good news, for even a little nostalgic tennis lovers, is the return of the Hopman Cup. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has in fact announced that the official competition for mixed teams will be scheduled for 2023. Unlike in the past, however, no Australia and no Perth.

In fact, the competition will be managed by the promoter Tennium and will be hosted in Nice, France, from 19 to 23 July, therefore in the middle of summer (European) and not in January (when it’s summer, yes, but in Australia). Last played in 2019, the Hopman Cup has always enjoyed an illustrious history, a unique fixture on the annual tennis calendar, a true starter of the season. Maybe not competitive at best, but always very popular. Founded in 1989, the event spent its first 30 years in Perth, before the advent of the ATP Cup, now abolished to make way for the now United Cup, which will debut on December 29, and which indeed had similar traits to old Hopman. The prestigious Nice Lawn Tennis Club will host the event from 2023 to 2027, as part of a five-year deal between the ITF and Tennium, a Barcelona-based company that runs multiple ATP and WTA events.

FORMULA

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As in previous editions of the competition, each team will consist of one man and one woman, with one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match and one mixed doubles match. Six teams will compete in the 2023 and 2024 editions, with the competition expanding to eight teams from 2025 onwards. As host country, France will field one team each year. The Hopman Cup is named after the famous Australian Davis Cup captain, Harry Hopman, a hugely successful player who saw him reach three Australian Open singles finals and win seven Grand Slam titles in men’s and mixed doubles. Hopman guided the Australian team to a record 16 titles between 1939 and 1967. Hopman’s widow Lucy always attended the event when it was contested in Perth, until her death at the age of 98 in 2018. The only thing to understand is how the event will fit into the calendar, given that in 2023 ATP tournaments such as Bastad, Gstaad and Newport and Palermo and Budapest for the WTA are already scheduled for that week.