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

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Year Champions Runners-up Score
1975   United States   Great Britain 2–1
1976 Not held
1977 Not held
1978   Spain   Australia 2–1
1979   Australia   Italy 2–1
1980   Argentina   Italy 3–0
1981   Czechoslovakia   Australia 2–1
1982   United States   Australia 2–0
1983   Spain   Australia 2–1
1984   United States   Czechoslovakia 2–1
1985   United States   Czechoslovakia 2–1
1986   France   Sweden 2–1
1987   Czechoslovakia   United States 2–1
1988   Sweden   United States 2–0
1989   West Germany   Argentina 2–1
1990   Yugoslavia   United States 3–0
1991   Sweden   Yugoslavia 2–1
1992   Spain   Czech Republic 2–0
1993   United States   Germany 3–0
1994   Germany   Spain 2–1
1995   Sweden   Croatia 2–1
1996   Switzerland   Czech Republic 2–1
1997   Spain   Australia 3–0
1998   Germany   Czech Republic 3–0
1999   Australia   Sweden 2–1
2000   Slovakia   Russia 3–0
2001   Australia   Russia 2–1
2002   Argentina   Russia 3–0
2003   Chile   Czech Republic 2–1
2004   Chile   Australia 2–1
2005   Germany   Argentina 2–1
2006   Croatia   Germany 2–1
2007   Argentina   Czech Republic 2–1
2008   Sweden   Russia 2–1
2009   Serbia   Germany 2–1
2010   Argentina   United States 2–1
2011   Germany   Argentina 2–1
2012   Serbia   Czech Republic 3–0

Titles by country

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Titles won Country Years Won Runners Up
5   United States 1975, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1993 (5) 1987, 1988, 1990, 2010 (4)
  Germany 1989, 1994, 1998, 2005, 2011 (5) 1993, 2006, 2009 (3)
4   Argentina 1980, 2002, 2007, 2010 (4) 1989, 2005, 2011 (3)
  Sweden 1988, 1991, 1995, 2008 (4) 1986, 1999 (2)
  Spain 1978, 1983, 1992, 1997 (4) 1994 (1)
3   Australia 1979, 1999, 2001 (3) 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1997, 2004 (6)
2   Czechoslovakia 1981, 1987 (2) 1984, 1985 (2)
  Chile 2003, 2004 (2)
  Serbia 2009, 2012 (2)
1   Yugoslavia 1990 (1) 1991 (1)
  Croatia 2006 (1) 1995 (1)
  France 1986 (1)
  Switzerland 1996 (1)
  Slovakia 2000 (1)
0   Czech Republic 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2012 (6)
  Russia 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008 (4)
  Italy 1979, 1980 (2)
  Great Britain 1975 (1)

Point distribution

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World Team Cup
Match type 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals Points Bonus Total
Singles 1 35 35 35 95 200 50 250
Singles 2 25 25 25 50 125 50 175
Deciding match (doubles) 35 35 35 95 200 50 250
Dead rubber (doubles) 10 10 10 20 50 50
  • 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

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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]

Year Player
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

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References

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  1. ^ John Barrett, ed. (1976). World of Tennis '76 : a BP and Commercial Union yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 196. ISBN 9780362002768. OCLC 650229036.
  2. ^ John Barrett, ed. (1980). World of Tennis 1980 : a BP yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 238. ISBN 9780362020120. OCLC 237184610.
  3. ^ "Tennis – Alle Sieger des World Team Cup". sportmomente.de. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  4. ^ Karolos Grohmann; Alan Baldwin (13 December 2010). "World Team Cup 2011 scrapped due to lack of a sponsor". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  5. ^ "World Team Cup back in 2011 schedule with new sponsor". Reuters. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "World Team Cup Event Ends After 35 Years". TennisNow. 4 Oct 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  7. ^ "ATP Discontinues World Team Cup Competition, Dusseldorf Will Get 250 Series Event Instead". SportsBusiness. October 4, 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  8. ^ Reuters
  9. ^ "World Team Cup to be re-introduced in the ATP Calendar in 2019 or 2020". Tennis World USA. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  10. ^ "ATP Unveils 'ATP Cup' Team Event For 2020 Season - ATP Tour - Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". atpworldtour.com. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  12. ^ "Berdych presented Fair Play Trophy in Düsseldorf". Archived from the original on 29 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Power Horse World Team Cup – Fair Play Trophy". Archived from the original on 1 May 2012.
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