Nice, 28 February 2023 – Tennium and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have announced the first three teams that will compete in the Hopman Cup 2023 (19-23 July) at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club (LTC). For the first time in its history, the mixed team competition, which has always held a special place in the hearts of tennis fans, will be played in Europe, in the south of France.
At an official press conference held in Nice on Tuesday 28 February in the Salon Chéret of the Hôtel de Ville, Iva Majoli, Tournament Director, and Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, announced the participation of the following teams:
- Spain with Carlos Alcaraz & Paula Badosa
- France with Richard Gasquet & Alizé Cornet
- Switzerland with Leandro Riedi & Belinda Bencic
The youngest world No. 1 in the history of tennis, Carlos Alcaraz, will be in Nice, this summer, to try to win alongside his compatriot Paula Badosa! A Spanish tennis player who has been a professional since 2018, Alcaraz recently won the Argentina Open, beating England’s Cameron Norrie, the No. 2 seed.
At 19 years old, he became the youngest player to win this trophy. Carlos Alcaraz will undoubtedly be one of the favourites for the title at Roland Garros in June 2023.
The French team will be made up of Alizé Cornet – the record holder of 64 consecutive Grand Slam appearances – and Richard Gasquet, who has won 16 singles titles on the ATP Tour and more than 500 victories in total, making him France’s record holder in terms of the number of matches won on the ATP Tour. A total of six teams will participate in the 2023 and 2024 editions, and eight teams from 2025. As the host country, France will field one team each year. The three remaining teams for the 2023 event will be announced in March 2023.
As in previous editions of the Hopman Cup, each team will consist of one male and one female player, with matches between nations comprising one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match and one mixed doubles match. During the press conference, the format of this new Hopman Cup was also unveiled, as well as the various infrastructures that will be put in place, including a large Fan Zone and a VIP Village.
Tickets will be available during the second half of March on hopmancup.com.
Iva Majoli, former player and director of the Hopman Cup said: “It’s an incredible competition. A unique competition because you play for your country, you play as a team and you play as a mixed team. This is quite rare on the circuit. I enjoyed doing it in 1996 with my friend Goran Ivanišević. It was a real happiness”.
During this official presentation, Kristoff Puelinckx, CEO of Tennium declared: “We want to thank the ITF for entrusting Tennium with the organization of this historic event. We believe Nice is going to be the perfect stage for this new edition of the Hopman Cup and we couldn’t be happier to organize it with the help of the city and the Nice Lawn Tennis Club.”
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice added: “This event confirms once again that Nice is a privileged destination for the biggest international sporting events. After the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2020, the Top 14 semi-finals in 2022, the Hopman Cup will precede the Rugby World Cup by a few weeks, and then the arrival of the Tour de France in July 2024. Tennis is a major sport in Nice, a discipline that has a strong history, with a club that is more than a hundred years old, and great players who have marked French tennis.”
ITF President David Haggerty said: “I would like to thank the Nice Lawn Tennis Club for hosting the event, the Mayor of Nice for his support and our partner Tennium, with whom we look forward to hosting this prestigious event for the next five years. Alongside the Billie Jean King Cup and the Davis Cup, the Hopman Cup is another ITF tournament that gives players the opportunity to represent their country and compete for something bigger than themselves. It is a truly unique event in the tennis calendar and holds a special place in the hearts of players and fans alike. After a brief hiatus since 2019, we are delighted to put this event back on the tennis calendar.”
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