The ATP Cup was a short-lived men’s team tennis tournament that ran for just three years (2020-2022) in Australia.
Played on outdoor hard courts as a lead-up to the Australian Open, the tournament featured between 12 and 24 national teams competing across Australian cities. Canada won the final edition in 2022, before the tournament was replaced by the mixed-gender United Cup in 2023.
History
The ATP Cup was founded in 2018 as tennis’s response to changes in the Davis Cup format.
Initially planned as the World Team Cup, it was officially announced as the ATP Cup on November 15, 2018, designed to feature 24 teams playing across three Australian cities.
The tournament ran for just three editions (2020-2022), with matches played in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth, though COVID-19 forced changes in 2021, reducing it to 12 teams and relocating all matches to Melbourne Park.
The 2022 edition was held in Sydney with 16 teams, and notably excluded Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine.
The tournament’s brief history came to an end on August 7, 2022, when Tennis Australia announced its replacement with the mixed-gender United Cup starting in 2023.
Throughout its run, matches were played on hardcourts at various venues including Pat Rafter Arena, Melbourne Park, Perth Arena, and Ken Rosewall Arena.
Qualifying
The ATP Cup used a unique qualification system based on player rankings. Teams needed at least three ATP-ranked players, with two having singles rankings to be eligible.
The selection process happened in two stages:
First, 18 teams were chosen right after the US Open, based on their top player’s singles ranking. Then, six more teams were added during ATP Finals week in November.
If the host country didn’t qualify in September’s first round, they would get a wild card spot, leaving just five spots for the November deadline.