World Team Cup

The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup.[1][2] No tournament was held in 1976 and 1977. From 1978 through 2012 the tournament was held annually in Düsseldorf, Germany. It was generally considered to be second most prestigious men's team competition in tennis after the Davis Cup.[citation needed]

World Team Cup
Tournament information
Founded1975
Abolished2012
Editions34
LocationDüsseldorf
 Germany
VenueRochusclub
CategoryATP World Tour 250 series
SurfaceClay / Outdoors
Draw8 teams (round-robin)
Prize moneyUS$1,764,700
WebsiteWorld-Team-Cup.com
Rochusclub clay court in Düsseldorf, Germany

Every year, the eight nations whose top two male players have achieved the highest combined placings in the men's world rankings at the end of the previous year were invited to compete for the cup.[citation needed]

The competition was played on clay courts in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event was generally regarded as the sports highlight of the social scene in the Düsseldorf area. It attracted around 75,000 visitors every year and was televised to over 160 countries.[citation needed]

From 1978 to 1981 the tournament was held under the name "Ambre Solaire Nations Cup", from 1982 until 1986 it was named "Ambre Solaire World Team Cup", from 1987–1999 "Peugeot World Team Cup" and from 2000 the event's main sponsor until 2010 was the ARAG Insurance Group, and its sponsored name was the "ARAG World Team Cup".[3]

After ARAG discontinued sponsorship for the event and organizers failed to find a new sponsor, the 2011 edition of the tournament was initially cancelled.[4] However, a new sponsor — Power Horse — was found in January 2011 and the 2011 edition took place between May 15–21 under the name "Power Horse World Team Cup".[5]

In October 2012 it was announced that the World Team Cup event would be discontinued and replaced by the Power Horse Cup, an ATP 250 tournament in Düsseldorf.[6][7]

In September 2017 it was announced that there were plans to revive the tournament: the ATP had proposed a 24 team tournament to be played over 10 days at venues around Australia in January, which would offer 1000 ranking points to any player who won all their matches.[8]

In January 2018 it was mooted to start in 2019 or 2020 with the backing from Tennis Australia,[9] In the end, the ATP decided to launch the competition as the ATP Cup, a separate tournament to the World Team Cup, in 2020.[10]

On 7 August 2022, Tennis Australia announced that the ATP Cup would be shut down, to be replaced by a mixed-gender United Cup from 2023.

Past finals

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
1975 United States Great Britain2–1
1976Not held
1977Not held
1978 Spain Australia2–1
1979 Australia Italy2–1
1980 Argentina Italy3–0
1981 Czechoslovakia Australia2–1
1982 United States Australia2–0
1983 Spain Australia2–1
1984 United States Czechoslovakia2–1
1985 United States Czechoslovakia2–1
1986 France Sweden2–1
1987 Czechoslovakia United States2–1
1988 Sweden United States2–0
1989 West Germany Argentina2–1
1990 Yugoslavia United States3–0
1991 Sweden Yugoslavia2–1
1992 Spain Czech Republic2–0
1993 United States Germany3–0
1994 Germany Spain2–1
1995 Sweden Croatia2–1
1996 Switzerland Czech Republic2–1
1997 Spain Australia3–0
1998 Germany Czech Republic3–0
1999 Australia Sweden2–1
2000 Slovakia Russia3–0
2001 Australia Russia2–1
2002 Argentina Russia3–0
2003 Chile Czech Republic2–1
2004 Chile Australia2–1
2005 Germany Argentina2–1
2006 Croatia Germany2–1
2007 Argentina Czech Republic2–1
2008 Sweden Russia2–1
2009 Serbia Germany2–1
2010 Argentina United States2–1
2011 Germany Argentina2–1
2012 Serbia Czech Republic3–0

Titles by country

Titles wonCountryYears WonRunners Up
5 United States1975, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1993 (5)1987, 1988, 1990, 2010 (4)
Germany1989, 1994, 1998, 2005, 2011 (5)1993, 2006, 2009 (3)
4 Argentina1980, 2002, 2007, 2010 (4)1989, 2005, 2011 (3)
Sweden1988, 1991, 1995, 2008 (4)1986, 1999 (2)
Spain1978, 1983, 1992, 1997 (4)1994 (1)
3 Australia1979, 1999, 2001 (3)1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1997, 2004 (6)
2 Czechoslovakia1981, 1987 (2)1984, 1985 (2)
Chile2003, 2004 (2)
Serbia2009, 2012 (2)
1 Yugoslavia1990 (1)1991 (1)
Croatia2006 (1)1995 (1)
France1986 (1)
Switzerland1996 (1)
Slovakia2000 (1)
0 Czech Republic1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2012 (6)
Russia2000, 2001, 2002, 2008 (4)
Italy1979, 1980 (2)
Great Britain1975 (1)

Point distribution

World Team Cup
Match type1st round2nd round3rd roundFinalsPointsBonusTotal
Singles 13535359520050250
Singles 22525255012550175
Deciding match (doubles)3535359520050250
Dead rubber (doubles)101010205050
  • Players who only play the finals will be awarded points from the previous round.[11]
  • Players must win all 4 matches and be part of the winning team in order to earn the Bonus Points.[11]


Fair Play Trophy

Presented since 1989, the Fair Play Trophy was awarded by an international jury of tennis journalists and the captains of the competing nations.[12][13]

YearPlayer
1989
Stefan Edberg
1990
Martín Jaite
1991
Eric Jelen
1992
Guy Forget
1993
Pete Sampras
1994
Magnus Gustafsson
1995
Stefan Edberg (2)
1996
Jakob Hlasek
1997
Michael Stich
1998
Petr Korda
1999
Àlex Corretja
2000
Patrick Rafter
2001
Patrick Rafter (2)
Pete Sampras (2)
Todd Martin
Sjeng Schalken
Jonas Björkman
James Blake
Jonas Björkman (2)
James Blake (2)
Rainer Schüttler
Lleyton Hewitt
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Robin Söderling
Tomáš Berdych

See also

References

External links