ATP Cup - Sydney, Brisbane, Perth

2020 tennis has begun in earnest, but in a different way for the men. A new tournament has been instituted, and conceptually it has merit.

Unfortunately it has two major flaws.

The ATP Cup is a teams tournament, like the Davis Cup, a battle amongst nations. 24 teams qualify, and are divided into 6 groups of four, where round robin matches determine quarter finalists etc.

Each ‘match’ consists of two singles and one doubles encounter.

The round robin matches are played in either Brisbane, Sydney or Perth, while quarter finals onwards are played in Sydney, at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney Olympic Park.

The flaws:

1. The teams concept limits the tournament to 24 countries and two singles and one doubles pair from each of those countries. When the Australian Open, first of the four Grand Slam tournaments of the year, is only weeks away, it is imperative to allow all eligible players access to as many lead up events as possible, and only Doha is available while the ATP Cup is contested.

All up, there are just three standard ATP tournaments on the calendar before the AO, while the WTA has five.

The ATP should have been scheduled later in the year.

2. Points are being awarded for the ATP Cup and these are counted towards individual singles and doubles rankings. A crazy decision, as it gives an advantage to those players participating in a teams event, and disadvantages those unable to play by way of the structure of the event. 

Dumb aspects aside, here are the groups of nations seeking glory in the initial chapter of ATP Cup:

Group A - Serbia, France, South Africa, Chile

RR matches in Brisbane 

Group B - Spain, Japan, Georgia, Uruguay 

RR matches in Perth 

Group C - Belgium, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Moldova

RR matches in Sydney 

Group D - Russia, Italy, USA, Norway

RR matches in Perth 

Group E - Austria, Croatia, Argentina, Poland

RR matches in Sydney 

Group F - Germany, Greece, Canada, Australia

RR matches in Brisbane