2020 sees the launch of a new international men’s tennis tournament, with the ATP Cup set to kick off the build-up to the prestigious Australian Open.
In past years, the lead-in to the Grand Slam has been dominated by three separate tournaments: Perth’s Hopman Cup and the Brisbane and Sydney Internationals. However, this year, all three tournaments have been discontinued (though the women’s Brisbane International will still run) to make room for the ATP Cup, making it the only major men’s tennis tournament in Australia before the Open begins.
Here’s how to watch every match on your TV, or stream it live from your computer or device.
The tournament will begin on Friday, January 3 and run until Sunday, January 12, with 24 nations to compete across games in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.
The 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four each. Each group member will play the other teams once each for a three-match rubber consisting of two singles matches and one doubles. Much like the Davis Cup, whoever gets to two matches claims the rubber.
From there, the top team from each group, plus the two best performing second-placed teams, will progress into the quarter-finals.
Of tennis’ biggest names, only Roger Federer won’t be participating. But, while the Swiss maestro has opted out for family reasons, the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will all be on court.
Team Australia will be looking for revenge after crashing out of last year’s Davis Cup Finals. Alongside star duo Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios are John Millman, doubles specialist John Peers and veteran Chris Guccione. Aussie icon Lleyton Hewitt will captain the side.
Much like for the Australian Open, Channel 9 hold the rights to the ATP Cup – however, while last year they attracted criticism for only showing one Open match at a time on live television, this year they’ve brought their secondary channel 9Gem into the fold.
This means two matches will be broadcast at a time throughout the majority of days of both tournaments.
Group match games (3-8 January) will begin with the opening Sydney fixture, Belgium vs Moldova, at 10:00am (AEDT), with the last match of the day to begin in Perth at approximately 8:30pm (AEDT). Each city will have two matches per day in the group period, though alternating time zones from city to city will see matches spread out throughout the day.
The finals matches (9-11 January) will also begin at 10am and 5:30pm (AEDT) on each day, and will be solely based in Sydney, while the final is scheduled for a 6:30pm (AEDT) start.
Nine’s online streaming service, 9Now, will be covering every game of the ATP Cup tournament, meaning you can watch every game on your laptop, mobile or alternate device. You can also download the 9 app and watch through there.
The ATP’s own streaming service, TennisTV, will also be streaming the tournament.
The Roar will also be running live blogs of Australia’s matches plus other key games throughout the tournament, including all finals.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Alex de Minaur has missed out on the chance of a lifetime to beat Rafael Nadal on clay in successive tournaments, blown away by…
The Spaniard scores first Top 20 win since November 2022, and reversed the result of a few weeks ago where the Australian came out…
Former Wimbledon champion, double grand slam winner and Australian Open finalist Garbine Muguruza has announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 30.…
Rafael Nadal has hailed the brilliance of Alex de Minaur, calling him "a great player" after the Australian forced the Spanish legend to say…
The clay season promises to be one of high level and tight margins. With the Monte Carlo open just around the corner, it will…
In incredible scenes, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells was halted abruptly due to a "bee invasion." Less…
