ITF

HOPMAN CUP 16 Winter 2022/23 ITF World This summer there will be the opportunity for elite players to head to the French Riviera after Wimbledon, although it won't just be for a holiday. The coastal city of Nice will offer something that little bit different to most weeks on the men's and women's tours. The Hopman Cup is back, with a new venue, new surface and a new date in the calendar. Previously it was played in Perth in January as a curtain- raiser to the season ahead of the Australian Open. Now, after a gap of three years, the event will be staged in France at the end of the grass court season and held on clay courts at the prestigious Nice Lawn Tennis Club on 19-23 July 2023. The ITF's official mixed team competition will have the same format as before – each national team will consist of one male and one female player, and ties between nations will feature one men's singles match, one women's singles match and a mixed doubles match. Six teams will compete in the 2023 and 2024 editions, with the competition expanding to eight teams from 2025 onwards. As hosts, France will field a side each year. The Hopman Cup was last played in 2019, with the formidable combination of Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic lifting the trophy for Switzerland for the second consecutive year. In both 2018 and 2019 they defeated Germany's Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber in the final. Founded in 1989, the Hopman Cup has an illustrious 30-year history. Stars of the game such as Federer, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Steffi Graf, John McEnroe, Martina Hingis, Boris Becker, Li Na and Andy Murray have all represented their countries and enjoyed The Hopman Cup makes a welcome comeback in 2023, with a new home for the mixed team competition in Nice, France. experiencing what was then a totally unique format in professional tennis. Thirteen nations have won the competition, and USA head the honours roll with six titles. The Hopman Cup was named after legendary Australian Davis Cup captain Harry Hopman and co- founded by three Australian tennis players and friends, Paul McNamee, Charlie Fancutt and Pat Cash. Hopman captained the Australian Davis Cup team to 16 titles between 1939 and 1967 and had a hugely successful playing career that saw him reach three Australian Open singles finals and win seven Grand Slam titles across men's and mixed doubles. Hopman's widow, Lucy, was a regular attendee at the Hopman Cup in Perth until her death at the age of 98 in 2018. The new-look Nice version of Hopman Cup will be run by event promoter Tennium, a Barcelona-based company who operate multiple ATP and WTA events, as part of a five- year agreement. ITF President David Haggerty said, "We are thrilled to partner with Tennium and that the Hopman Cup will return in 2023. We are already looking forward to visiting the beautiful city of Nice next July. "The Hopman Cup, as a unique mixed team event, has always enjoyed a special place in the hearts of tennis fans, and I am sure that spectators in Nice will relish the chance to see some of the world's top men and women players on the same court. I would like to thank our event partners, Tennium, for helping us reintroduce the Hopman Cup to the tennis calendar, and we look forward to working together over the coming months and years." n mix back in the

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