The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that the Hopman Cup, its official mixed team competition, will return for the 2023 season, moving from its long-time home of Perth to Nice.
Nice Lawn Tennis Club will host the international mixed team event from 2023 to 2027, as part of a five-year agreement between the ITF and Tennium, a Barcelona-based company which operates multiple ATP men’s and WTA women’s events.
Founded in 1989, the event spent its first 30 years in Perth, Australia, and was played in the opening week of the tennis season. During this time, it featured legends such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Steffi Graf, John McEnroe, Martina Hingis, Boris Becker, Li Na and Andy Murray representing their nation in both singles and mixed doubles.
The opening event under the new deal will be held on clay courts in the French city from July 19-23. As in previous editions of the competition, each team will consist of one male and one female player, with ties between nations featuring 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 team each year.
The revival of the Hopman Cup comes after the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) teamed up with Tennis Australia (TA) in October to launch the United Cup, a new mixed-gender team competition that will debut in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney next year.
The United Cup intends to launch the global tennis season from December 29 to January 8, leading in to the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the year, whose 2023 edition is due to commence on January 16.
David Haggerty, ITF president, said: “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.”
Landing the Hopman Cup comes after Nice last week scored another hosting coup with the announcement that the Tour de France will conclude outside of Paris for the first time in its history in 2024.
After 110 editions concluded at Parc des Princes, the Cipale velodrome in Bois de Vincennes or on Avenue des Champs-Elysées, the 21st stage of the 2024 Tour will take place in Nice on July 21. The move has been made due to Paris’ staging of the 2024 Olympic Games, which is due to open on July 26.
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, said: “This event confirms once again that Nice is a privileged destination for the biggest international sporting events.
“After the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2020 and the Top 14 semi-finals in 2022, the Hopman Cup will precede the Rugby World Cup by a few weeks, and then the arrival of the Tour de France in July 2024. Tennis is a major sport in Nice, a discipline that has a strong history, with a club that is more than a hundred years old, and great players who have marked French tennis.”
