Hopman Cup
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| Exhibition | ||
| Location | Perth, Western Australia Australia |
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| Venue | Burswood Dome (1989–2012) Perth Arena (from 2013) |
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| Surface | Hard indoor | |
| Draw | 8 Teams (Group A+B) | |
| Website | www.HopmanCup.com.au | |
The Hopman Cup is an annual international team tennis tournament held in Perth, Western Australia in early January (sometimes commencing in late December) each year, which plays mixed teams on a country by country basis. It is also known as the ITF World Mixed Team Championships.[1]
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[edit] Format
Unlike other major international team tennis tournaments like the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup, which are strictly for men or women only, the Hopman Cup is a mixed competition where male and female players are together on combined teams and represent their country. Players are invited to attend, national coaches not being involved in selecting teams.
Eight nations are selected annually to compete in the Hopman Cup. (The 'last' team may be decided by play-offs between several nations before competition begins. For 2007 Hopman Cup however, this did not occur, due to the Asian Qualifying Tournament creating the eighth team. The official tournament website also has no qualifier listed in its schedule.)
Each team consists of one male player and one female player. Each match-up between two teams at the championships consists of:
- one women's singles match
- one men's singles match
- one mixed doubles match
Each year the eight competing teams are separated into two groups of four (with two teams being seeded) and face-off against each of the other three teams in their group in a round-robin format. These seedings ensure that each group has approximately similar strength. The top team in each group then meet in a final to decide the champions.
If a player is injured then a player of a lower ranking of that nation may be the substitute.
[edit] Venue
The matches are played at an indoor hardcourt venue, the Burswood Dome at the Burswood Entertainment Complex. The tournament is a sanctioned event in the calendar of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), but individual player results are not included in the calculation of the tennis world rankings. The competition receives extensive television coverage in Australia and is an important lead-up tournament to the Australian Open each January. The winning team receives a silver cup perpetual trophy, and the winning team members are presented with distinctive individual trophies in the shape of a tennis ball encrusted with diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
[edit] Harry Hopman
The championship is named in honour of Harry Hopman (1906–1985), an Australian tennis player and coach who guided the country to no fewer than 15 Davis Cup titles in the 1938–69 period.
Since the Hopman Cup was founded in 1989, it has been attended every year by Harry Hopman's widow, his second wife Lucy, who travels to the tournament annually from her home in the United States. Fans have warmly adopted her as the "Queen of the Cup".[2]
[edit] Miscellaneous
The Tournament Director of the Hopman Cup is the former Australian tennis player Paul McNamee, who played a key role in the founding of the championships.
The 2005/06 Hopman Cup was the first elite-level tennis tournament where the system was introduced allowing players to challenge point-ending line calls similar to that in clay court tournaments. The challenged calls are immediately reviewed on a large monitor using Hawk-Eye technology.
The XX Hopman Cup, in 2008, was to be the last to be held at the Burswood Dome, however this has been extended until 2011, when the new Perth Arena is due for completion.
[edit] Telecasts
The Hopman Cup was originally broadcast by the Seven Network till 1994, then by ABC (1995–2010). From 2011, a five year deal to broadcast the Hopman Cup was signed by a new sporting channel ONE HD owned by commercial television station the Network Ten.
[edit] Past champions
[edit] Records and statistics
[edit] Team
| Country | Years Won | Runners Up |
|---|---|---|
 United States |
1997, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 (6) | 1990, 1991, 2001, 2002 (4) |
 Spain |
1990, 2002, 2010 (3) | 1993, 2007 (2) |
 Slovakia |
1998, 2005, 2009 (3) | 2004 (1) |
 Germany |
1993, 1995 (2) | 1994 (1) |
 Switzerland |
1992, 2001 (2) | 1996 (1) |
 Czech Republic |
1994, 2012 (2) | (0) |
| Australia |
1999 (1) | 1989, 2003 (2) |
 Czechoslovakia |
1989 (1) | 1992 (1) |
 Russia |
2007 (1) | 2009 (1) |
 South Africa |
2000 (1) | 1997 (1) |
 Croatia |
1996 (1) | (0) |
 Yugoslavia |
1991 (1) | (0) |
 France |
(0) | 1998, 2012 (2) |
 Argentina |
(0) | 2005 (1) |
 Belgium |
(0) | 2011 (1) |
 Great Britain |
(0) | 2010 (1) |
 Netherlands |
(0) | 2006 (1) |
 Serbia |
(0) | 2008 (1) |
 Sweden |
(0) | 1999 (1) |
 Thailand |
(0) | 2000 (1) |
 Ukraine |
(0) | 1995 (1) |
- Consecutive titles
- All-time: 2, United States, 2003–2004
- Consecutive finals appearances
- All-time: 4, United States, 2001–2004
[edit] References
- ^ http://hopmancup.com/?id=103&NewsId=354
- ^ The Harry Hopman Legacy, Hyundai Hopman Cup website (archived), 24 March 2009.
- ^ "Hyundai Hopman Cup". itftennis.com. http://beta.itftennis.com/about/itf-events/hopman-cup/overview.aspx. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Honour Roll - Champions". hopmancup.com. http://hopmancup.com/Results/Hopman-Cup-Champions.html. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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