The 2018 edition of the Hopman Cup is about to get underway. Hopman Cup involves two divisions of four nations apiece. Those four nations play three competitions in a round-robin format. Each individual competition consists of a men’s singles match, a women’s singles match, and a mixed doubles match. The winners of each group – from round-robin play – meet in the championship competition, meaning that no nation will play more than four competitions at this event. Each team – one man, one woman – will not play more than four singles or doubles matches during the week in Perth, Australia, just before the start of the Australian Open. The event is usually contested in a lighthearted spirit of fun. Low-pressure match play is the attraction for players who attend this limited-involvement event.
The competition in the eight-team event begins on Saturday, December 30.
Event Details
Event: Hopman Cup
Category: International Tennis Federation Event
Date: December 30, 2017 – January 6, 2018
Location: – Perth, Australia
The tournament does not have match-based prize money earnings. Players receive appearance fees. The winning players also receive a trophy worth near $26,000.
Points
No rankings points are associated with this event.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2017: France def. United States, 2-1
2016: Australia def. Ukraine, 2-0
2015: Poland def. United States, 2-1
2014: France def. Poland, 2-1
2013: Spain def. Serbia, 2-1
Player Info:
As stated above, there are two four-nation groups, with the winners meeting for the title.
The two groups are as follows:
Group A: Australia (host nation), Canada, Belgium, Germany
Australia is represented by Daria Gavrilova in terms of the women. She is coming off a strong campaign where she finished 33-22 on the season. She was 19-11 on the hard courts, which is decent.
Canada is represented by Eugenie Bouchard on the women’s side of things. Bouchard has tumbled a little bit. She went 29-24 two years ago, including 19-13 on the hard courts. She took a significant step back last year, though, going 11-20 on the season with a paltry 7-13 on the hard courts.
Germany is represented by Angelique Kerber. She’s coming off a down year that saw her tumble from being the No. 1 player in the world all the way down to No. 21. On the season, she was merely 28-23, including a losing 2-3 record on clay. While she’s never really thrived on clay, the bigger surprise was that she was 5-2 on grass and 21-16 on the hard courts. She won 40 of her 50 hard court matches in 2015.
Belgium is represented by Elise Mertens.
Group B: United States, Russia, Japan, Switzerland
The United States is represented by CoCo Vandeweghe. She had a very good year, going 29-18 overall including a decent showing at the U.S. Open. She was 19-11 on hard courts last year.
Russia is represented by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She’s coming off a fairly strong season where she managed to collect 41 wins. She went 31-16 on the hard courts while going 8-3 on grass and 2-3 on clay. It was a big improvement for her after she went 26-24 in the 2016 season. Japan is represented by Naomi Osaka while Switzerland is represented by Belinda Bencic.
The most intriguing WTA players in Perth are Angelique Kerber, CoCo Vandeweghe, and Naomi Osaka. Most of the other WTA players are either non-contenders for the Australian Open or have reached a ceiling in their careers with low odds of exceeding expectations. Kerber, Vandeweghe and Osaka all offer the potential to be special in 2018 if things break right for them. Kerber might be refreshed now that she doesn’t have a No. 1 ranking or a lot of points to defend. Vandeweghe made the U.S. Open and Australian Open semifinals last season and has the powerful game to be a big threat at the Grand Slam hardcourt events plus Wimbledon. Osaka is viewed as a young player with a lot of upside. She will be a lurker/floater at the Australian Open who can cause havoc in that tournament.
Perth Arena
This facility can play host to outdoor tennis, but this is an indoor tournament due to the stifling summer heat in Australia. The main stadium court seats just under 14,000 people for tennis. Since this is a more contained event than a 32-player or 48-player event, there is not a large collection of courts for the Hopman Cup. The action is confined to the main stadium court in Perth.
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