Sydney has won finals hosting rights for the inaugural 24-team ATP Cup men’s tennis tournament in January next year.
Sydney will also host part of the group stages, along with Brisbane and a third Australian city to be announced at a later date, with Perth and Adelaide the front-runners.
The $US15 million ($A21 million) event from January 3-12 will comprise three eight-team groups and be the richest in tennis history outside of the four annual grand slam tournaments.
“With more than 100 players from 24 nations … the ATP Cup will help us launch the global tennis season every January in Australia,” said Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley at a launch event on Sydney Harbour attended by ATP tour chairman and president Chris Kermode.
Brisbane will hold its ATP Cup group stage along with its existing women’s event.
With Sydney hosting both the group stages and the finals, the Sydney International women’s event is likely to run as a stand-alone tournament from January 13-19.
The 2020 Australian Open starts on January 20.
The ATP Cup appears set to provide a stronger men’s tennis lead-up to the Australian Open than the current structure of tournaments has done.
“The ATP Cup will provide (the players) a great way to open their season – bringing together the world’s best for a major team event that compliments the existing scheduling, provides highly-coveted ATP ranking points and clearly links to the Australian Open,” said Tiley.
“The first week of the season is when the players want to play and that’s why the tournament has their strong support.”
Tiley said Tennis Australia had a vision for the future of the Australian tennis summer which also included a new women’s event.
With Melbourne continuing to host the Australian Open, Tiley ruled out the Victorian captain also being involved with the ATP Cup.
It’s likely whichever city out of Brisbane and Adelaide that doesn’t win ATP Cup inclusion will gain a men’s tournament next January.