A new tennis event will be held in Australia in January 2020 called the ATP Cup, a rival to the Davis Cup, it has been announced.
Interestingly, the event, which will come under the banner of the ATP, will be held just two months after the revamped Davis Cup, which is run by the ITF.
The 118-year-old Davis Cup will condense into only a week-long event in November 2019, with 18 nations to participate in the finals.
The first two editions of the new format will be held in Madrid in '19 and '20.
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But there's every chance the new ATP Cup, which will be held as part of the Australian summer of tennis, will turn the Davis Cup into a farce.
The ATP Cup, to be held in three yet-to-be-determined Australian cities over 10 days, will offer $21 million in prizemoney, along with 750 ranking points, just short of the 1000 available at ATP Masters Series events.
In contrast, the Davis Cup doesn't offer prizemoney or ranking points.
When announcing the new event, Men's Tour chief Chris Kermode denied the scheduling of the new event was a powerplay by the ATP, given the short timeframe between the re-jigged Davis Cup and ATP Cup.
War has pretty much been declared by the ATP and Tennis Australia, and ITF can’t win this one without some major tactical adjustments.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) November 15, 2018
“The issue is timing, being so close, I get that,” Kermode said at a press conference at London's O2 Arena on Thursday, which is currently holding the Nitto ATP Finals.
“But there seems to be a fixation that the ATP Cup has caused the issue with the Davis Cup which is not the case.
“It’s not an ATP land grab or anything like. This is us promoting big events in which we can attract new audiences.”
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley was on hand for the announcement.
“This is going to be special, it’s going to be fantastic to launch the year with this event and it will create interest immediately," Tiley said.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic, who was also present at the media conference, endorsed the new ATP Cup.
“I like that it’s owned by ATP, by the players,” Djokovic said.
In a further blow for the Davis Cup, fellow Big Three member Roger Federer previously said the revamped competition "was not designed for me".
But earlier in the week, Djokovic did voice his concerns over the closeness of the two competitions, believing the result could be "two average events".
In the ATP Cup, countries will be split into six groups, with eight nations then progressing to the knockout stage.
There will be two to five players in each team, with ties to consist of two singles and a doubles rubber.
Entry criteria will be dictated by the ATP ranking of the number one singles player from each nation.