ATP Cup is an international tennis tournament where the elite men of tennis will represent their nation. The demise of the Hopman Cup of tennis gave birth to ATP Cup and in January 2020 the event was held for the very first time. It was played on hard courts. 

Prior to the Australian Open tennis tournament, the ATP Cup takes place for ten days in three cities across Australia. 24 nations get on board and two ATP players represent each team.

But because of the coronavirus pandemic, ATP Cup 2021 was held across five days entirely in Melbourne, Australia. 12 teams participated and were represented by four players each.

From 1978 to 2012, the ATP World Team Cup was held in Dusseldorf, Germany and ATP Cup is certainly the return of the old tournament.

ATP Cup Format

The tournament has 12 teams drawn into four groups with each group having three teams. Each group competes amongst themselves. Two singles matches and one doubles match are conducted for each team in each round.

The match between the No. 2 of each team will open the tie, then the No.1 of each team and the doubles match closes the tie. The doubles match will be played regardless of whether the tie is decided or not.

The four group winners will move into the semifinals of the tournament, and then winners move to the finals from which the champion is decided.

ATP Cup 2021 Schedule

The 2021 event took place from 1st to 5th February, in Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 edition was played entirely in Melbourne.

ATP Cup 2021 Teams

1) Serbia: Novak Djokovic, Dusan Lajovic, Filip Krajinovic, Nikola Cacic

2) Spain: Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Marcel Granollers, Pablo Carreno Busta

3) Austria: Dominic Thiem, Dennis Novak, Philipp Oswald, Tristan-Samuel Weissborn

4) Russia: Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Aslan Karatsev, Evgeny Donskoy

5) Greece: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Michail Pervolarakis, Markos Kalovelonis, Petros Tsitsipas

6) Germany: Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Kevin Krawietz, Andreas Mies

7) Argentina: Diego Schwartzman, Guido Pella, Horacio Zeballos, Maximo Gonzalez

8) Italy: Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini, Simone Bolelli, Andrea Vavassori

9) Japan: Kei Nishikori, Yoshihito Nishioka, Ben McLachlan, Toshihide Matsui

10) France: Gael Monfils, Benoit Paire, Nicolas Mahut, Edouard Roger-Vasselin

11) Canada: Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic, Peter Polansky, Steven Diez

12) Australia: Alex De Minaur, John Millman, John Peers, Luke Saville

ATP Cup 2020 winners

The 2020 edition was won by Serbia after they defeated Spain 2-1 in the final. Novak Djokovic defeated his long-term rival, Rafael Nadal, in the second singles match. Djokovic then combined with Viktor Troicki in the men's doubles final to help Serbia lift the title.

The eight teams that advanced through to the quarter-finals were - Serbia, Canada, Argentina, Russia, Great Britain, Australia, Spain, and Belgium.

The four semi-finalists were Serbia, Russia, Australia, and Spain. Home team Australia had an inspired run before the Nadal-led Spanish team defeated them in the semi-final.

Prize money for the event

The total prize money for the 2021 event was $7,500,000 which was down from $15,000,000 in 2020.