ATP Cup 2020: Schedule, players, format and all you need to know about the ATP Cup

The 2020 ATP season serves off in style with the ATP Cup in Australia, with 24 nations set to compete at the inaugural edition of the tournament.

The ATP Cup is live from 3-12 January, and will be staged across the Australian cities of Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. The tournament is attracting the best players in the world, with the top two on the ATP rankings- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic- among those set to turn out for their respective countries.

The ATP Cup will feature several new innovations, including Team Zones, Strategy Rooms and Video Review, and boasts an overall prize money of $15 million. A maximum of 750 ranking points are available to any singles player who wins all possible singles matches.

 

ATP Cup Schedule

Knock Out Rounds (All knock-out matches will be played in Sydney)

Quarter Finals

Thursday, 9 January
QF 1: Winner Group C vs Winner Group F (10:00am local time/ 11:00pm GMT* on Wednesday)
QF 2: Winner Group D vs Winner Group E (5:30pm local time/ 6:30am GMT)

Friday, 10 January
QF 3: Winner Group A vs Second Runner-Up (10:00am local time/ 11:00pm GMT* on Thursday)
QF 4: Winner Group B vs First Runner-Up (5:30pm local time/ 6:30am GMT)

Semi-Finals

Saturday, 11 January
SF 1: Winner [QF 2] vs Winner [QF 3] (10:00am local time/ 11:00pm GMT* on Friday)
SF 2: Winner [QF 1] vs Winner [QF 4] (5:30pm local time/ 6:30am GMT)

Final

Sunday, 12 January
Winner [SF 1] vs Winner [SF 2] (5:30pm local time/ 6:30am GMT)

 

ATP Cup Players and Captains

The world’s top two players, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the headline acts, while Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Roberto Bautista-Agut and Gael Monfils complete a strong top-ten presence. The only players missing from that elite group are Roger Federer, who withdrew for personal reasons,  and Matteo Berrettini, who pulled out in December because of an abdominal injury.

Former world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion, Andy Murray was also set to open his season at the event until he withdrew with a pelvic problem. The tournament still boasts a glittering array of stars, and is set to provide a spectacular opening to the 2020 season.

The 24 teams are presented in alphabetical order. Only the top two players are included in this table. Each team can have up to five players.

 

ATP Cup Groups

 

ATP Cup Format

– The ATP Cup is an annual 24-country team competition that is set to launch each tennis season from 2020, with the inaugural edition to be played across three Australian cities (Perth, Brisbane and Sydney) from January 3-12.

– The group stages will be played over six days in all three cities, with Sydney to host the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

– The 24 countries are divided into six groups for the round robin phase of the competition, with the six winners and two best second-placed finishers advancing into the quarter-finals.

– Each tie will feature two singles and one doubles match. Singles will be best-of-three tiebreak sets, while doubles is no-ad scoring and will feature a match tiebreak (first to 10) if the contest goes to a third set.

– Each team will have a captain that will be chosen by the No. 1 singles player in consultation with their other team members. Should a country not select a captain, the No. 1 singles player will lead the team.

– On-court coaching is allowed and not limited to changeovers and set breaks.

– An undefeated singles player who goes on to win the ATP Cup can earn a maximum of 750 ranking points, while an undefeated doubles player can win 250 ranking points.

– The total prize money pool is US$15 million.