Team Cup event on the table

TENNIS Australia is considering a major revamp of its summer series of tournaments ahead of the 2020 Australian Open.

The revolutionary proposal would potentially affect the Brisbane and Sydney Internationals and Perth’s Hopman Cup as officials mull over the idea of staging a 24-nation World Team Cup.

The tournament would be spread across four Australian cities, probably Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

The World Team Cup was held in Dusseldorf between 1978 and 2012 in the lead-in to the French Open, but was discontinued after sponsorship issues. But TA chief executive and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley is keen to revive the event.

“We’ve put our hand up to host the World Team Cup,” Tiley said, also declaring there was no intention to move the Australian Open from its January timeslot.

“We can make it work with the Australian Open where it is and I’ve been very clear we want the Australian Open where it is because it’s in the school holidays.

“We’ve been very clear with the (men’s and women’s) tours that the Australian Open in the last two weeks of January stays there.”

The format for an Australian-staged World Team Cup is yet to be fully explored. But, as it stands now, it would be notionally contested over 10 days with a mix of round-robin and knockout formats.