Hopman Cup

History

Harry Hopman was one of the all-time great Australian tennis players and coaches. One of his greatest hopes was to create an international mixed team event to equal that of the Davis Cup (all male) and Fed Cup (all female). Hopman was the captain of his nation's Davis Cup team from 1938 to 1969, and guided the team to an amazing 16 titles during perhaps the greatest era of Aussie players. He had an eye for talent and not only did he discover Rod Laver as a teenager but he helped develop John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis before they emerged as champions.

When this event was conceived by former players Paul McNamee and Charlie Faircutt in 1988, it was named in Hopman’s honor.

The first winners were the Czechoslovakian team of Miloslav Mecir and Helena Sukova, while other victorious teams include Monica Seles with Goran Prpic (1990/1991), Michael Stich and Steffi Graf (1993), Boris Becker with Anke Huber (1994/1995) and Roger Federer with Martina Hingis (2001).

Americans James Blake and Lindsay Davenport beat Slovak pair Karol Kucera and Daniela Hantuchova for the title in the 2004 edition.

Format

The Hopman Cup's format features eight teams of two players, one male and one female, representing their country. The eighth spot is decided by a playoff between two qualifying nations. Over the eight days of the tournament at the Burswood Dome in Perth Australia, there are both men and women's singles matches, as well as mixed doubles. Since 1998 it has been sponsored by Hyundai, and is known as the Hyundai Hopman Cup. The International Tennis Federation recognizes it as their official mixed teams competition.