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The 2021 ATP Cup will officially mark the starting of the Australian tennis season. Most of the top-ranked players in the world will compete at the ATP Cup, which begins a week prior to the Australian Open.

When and where will it be played?

The tournament will be played entirely at Melbourne Park from February 1 to 5. The five-day tournament (Monday to Friday) will be held alongside two other ATP 250 events, which will occupy Week 5 of the ATP Calendar.

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How does the tournament work?

The tournament comprises 12 teams, which are divided into four groups of three for the group stage, round-robin play. The winners of each team qualify for the knock-out stages, with the four remaining teams contesting the semifinals.

Which teams will compete at the ATP Cup?

The following are the 12 teams competing at the 2021 ATP Cup. Each team is composed of four players.

  • Serbia: Novak Djokovic, Dusan Lajovic, Filip Krajinovic, Nikola Cacic
  • Spain: Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Marcel Granollers, Pablo Carreno Busta
  • Austria: Dominic Thiem, Dennis Novak, Philipp Oswald, Tristan-Samuel Weissborn
  • Russia: Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Aslan Karatsev, Evgeny Donskoy
  • Greece: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Michail Pervolarakis, Markos Kalovelonis, Petros Tsitsipas
  • Germany: Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Kevin Krawietz, Andreas Mies
  • Argentina: Diego Schwartzman, Guido Pella, Horacio Zeballos, Maximo Gonzalez
  • Italy: Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini, Simone Bolelli, Andrea Vavassori
  • Japan: Kei Nishikori, Yoshihito Nishioka, Ben McLachlan, Toshihide Matsui
  • France: Gael Monfils, Benoit Paire, Nicolas Mahut, Edouard Roger-Vasselin
  • Canada: Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic, Peter Polansky, Steven Diez
  • Australia: Alex De Minaur, John Millman, John Peers, Luke Saville

In other news, Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from this year’s ATP Cup and decided to compete at an ATP 250 event instead.

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What is the format of the ATP Cup?

The format of the event will be like the inaugural edition. Each tie will comprise two single matches and one doubles match. The country that wins two matches will win the tie. Each country will get to play two ties in the group stages. The singles match will be the best of three tie-break sets, while the doubles will feature No-Ad scoring and a match tie-break in lieu of the third set.

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How much is the prize money?

The prize money for the 2021 ATP Cup is a whopping 7.5 million dollars. The total prize money awarded to players has three components including participation fee, prize money for individual match wins, and prize money for tie victories.