Carlos Alcaraz and Paula Badosa have been confirmed as the first pair at the 2024 Hopman Cup, which will be played at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club in France.
Dates for the 2024 edition have not been confirmed, but it will likely fill up the tennis calendar in the subsequent week after Wimbledon, which was the case in 2023 when the tournament reserved its spot after a three-year absence.
Traditionally held in the build-up to the Australian Open and on outdoor hard courts in Perth since 1989, the Hopman Cup was removed from the calendar after the 2019 season to be replaced by the now-defunct ATP Cup.
But it was back in 2023 after striking a five-year deal with the ITF in which the mixed-gender event was played on the clay courts in Nice, in a six-team format. That will be the case in 2024 before reverting to eight teams from 2025.
Croatia was crowned champions in 2023 after Borna Coric and Donna Vekic secured straight-set wins over Leandro Riedi and Celine Naef in the final respectively. It was their second Hopman Cup title in a week where at least 20,000 spectators gathered to watch the tournament.
Iva Majoli, one of the architects in Croatia's first Hopman Cup success in 1996, is the current tournament director and shared an update of the first competing nation and pair at the 2024 edition. Two-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz and WTA star Badosa will join forces for Spain in 2024.
Alcaraz played the Hopman Cup for the first time in 2023 but Spain was eliminated in a group containing Croatia and Belgium. The 20-year-old cut short his Wimbledon victory celebrations to honor his word and won both singles matches.
Badosa will replace Rebeka Masarova in the team after an injury ruled her out from this year's competition. It will be the 26-year-old's first taste of the Hopman Cup competition.
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