Italy has bolstered its tennis event portfolio after Bari was awarded hosting rights to this year’s edition of the Hopman Cup mixed team tournament.
The event will take place at Fiera del Levante (pictured) in Bari from July 16-20. Host nation Italy will be joined by teams representing France, Spain, Greece, Canada and reigning champion Croatia.
The Italian team will feature Jasmine Paolini, who won a gold medal in the women’s doubles at last year’s Olympic Games in Paris and also won the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup. She will be joined by men’s player Flavio Cobolli.
A tennis village spanning over 10,000 square metres will be used for the event, which will include ties between nations featuring one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match and a mixed doubles match.
The Hopman Cup was founded in 1989 and spent its first 30 years in Perth, Australia. After a four-year break, the event returned to the calendar in 2023 as Nice Lawn Tennis Club played host.
Nice Lawn Tennis Club had been set to host the event until 2027 as part of a five-year agreement between the ITF and Tennium, a Barcelona-based company which operates multiple ATP and WTA tournaments. However, no event was held in 2024 due to the Olympics and Bari has now been pencilled in to host this year’s tournament.
David Haggerty, president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), said: “We have great satisfaction in bringing this major event back to the international tennis scene. The Hopman Cup is a unique opportunity on the calendar, cherished by both players and fans, who I am sure will fill the stands in Bari.”
In December, Italy was awarded hosting rights to the Davis Cup Final 8 as part of a three-year deal running from 2025 to 2027. This year’s event will be held in Bologna in November.
Italy will also continue to host the ATP Finals until at least 2030 after a new five-year hosting deal was agreed in November. The finale of the men’s tennis season has taken place in Turin since 2021, and the new deal could see the event take place at a new arena being built in Milan for next year’s Winter Olympics.
Interest in tennis has risen considerably in Italy in recent years, buoyed by the success of men’s world number one and three-time grand slam winner Jannik Sinner. Paolini, who reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon last year, is sixth in the WTA rankings.
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