Gone are the days when ATP 250s in Brisbane and Sydney preceded the Australian Open. Even the tournament in India (previously in Chennai, now in Pune) has moved from January to February.
Instead, Doha and Auckland are joined by the ATP Cup and Adelaide as Aussie Open warmup events.
The inaugural ATP Cup, held in Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth, kicks off the 2020 season on Jan. 3 and runs through Jan. 12. It conflicts directly with Doha, but cup participants will be able to compete in either Auckland or Adelaide during week two. Twenty-four countries are ready to battle for the trophy in a second team competition in the span of less than three months.
Here is the 2020 ATP Cup field:
With top players such as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal taking part in those festivities, the Doha field will not be as strong as it has been in past years. Among the early entrants, however, are Stan Wawrinka, Andrey Rublev, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Milos Raonic.
The Auckland field already includes Daniil Medvedev, Fabio Fognini, Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov, and John Isner.
Djokovic recently made a surprise commitment to the new Adelaide event, packing his pre-Australian Open schedule. He will be joined there by Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime. De Minaur had been a staple of the Brisbane and Sydney tournaments in recent seasons, even capturing his first career ATP title this year in Sydney.
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should be a good start to the year
I wonder how many fans from Europe, Asia, Africa and America will travel to Australia to support their national tennis teams.
not a lot. this isn’t the Davis Cup.
Ricky AT 9:27 PM,
The ATP website says that the ATP Cup is a team tennis tournament where players play “for the love of country.”
So, there is NO difference between the Davis Cup and ATP Cup. (Only the qualifying process is different.)
The ATP: ¤¤ For The Love Of Country
The ATP Cup is a new team competition to kickstart the men’s tennis season from 2020. The tournament will be played over 10 days in the lead up to the Australian Open and will feature teams from 24 countries. ¤¤
https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/atp-cup/8888/overview
A bit disappointed ,was looking forward to Brisbane etc. At least we still have Doha and Auckland .
Me too. Preferred the ATP Calendar as it was. (Ridiculous ATP Cup = nonsense)
when is ricky putting up his top 10 list for 2020 and his potential slam winners?
closer to January. have to recap 2019 first.
ATP cup will not be a success like Laver or Davis new format.
Not sure about this new ATP Cup….but I am sure that I WILL be in Rod Laver Arena on the first day of the Aussie Open!!!
ATP Cup could be good…but I’d definitely choose RLA for Day 1 of the Aussie if I had to choose between the two!!!