By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Hopman Cup is making a comeback and Spanish stars have signed on for the relaunch.
Reigning US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz and former Indian Wells champion Paula Badosa will join forces for Spain in Hopman Cup Nice set for July 19-23rd on the grass courts of the Nice Lawn Tennis Club.
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The Spanish standouts are one of three confirmed teams for Hopman Cup Nice, which begins three days after the 2023 Wimbledon concludes.
Alizé Cornet and Richard Gasquet will represent France, while Belinda Bencic and Leandro Riedi form the Swiss squad. Gasquet is a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, while Cornet owns Wimbledon wins over Grand Slam champions Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek. Cornet snapped Swiatek’s 37-match win streak in a Wimbledon upset last summer.
Six teams will compete at Hopman Cup Nice. Three more teams will be announced.
The women and men will both play individual matches nd they will team up in a mixed doubles match, which will be played to the best of three sets with a super tie-break as the third set.
The original Hopman Cup was a popular eight-team exhibition event staged from 1989 through 2019 in Perth, Australia. the ITF-owned Hopman Cup was initially replaced by the ATP Cup, which gave way to the United Cup.
The Swiss team of Roger Federer and Bencic beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber to successfully defend the Hopman Cup championship in 2019 in Perth.
It was Federer’s third Hopman Cup championship and came 18 years after the Swiss stylist partnered Hall of Famer Martina Hingis to defeat the United States team of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill in the final.
Photo credit: Getty
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