The ATP Cup is a relatively new tennis tournament – it only began in 2020, making this its second edition ever.
Still, it’s a big one, with a team-based format that guarantees singles and double actions featuring some of the top men’s tennis players from around the world, with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal both competing in the 2021 tournament.
Think of it as a little warm-up to the Australian Open – especially since it also takes place in Australia, so it’s good practice for the late nights you’ll have to pull to watch matches if you live elsewhere in the world.
When is the ATP Cup 2021?
The ATP Cup runs from 2 February until 6 February 2021, so it’s already in full swing.
The day sessions kick off at 10am local time, which works out to 11pm GMT / 6pm ET / 3pm PT. The evening sessions then start at 5:30pm in Melbourne, which is 6.30am GMT / 1.30am ET / 10.30pm PT.
How to watch the ATP Cup live
If you want to watch live, you have a few options. The tournament is being broadcast on Channel 9 in Australia, which is free to watch, and livestreamed on 9Now. The only complication? You need to be in Australia to access it, and to create an account with an Australian zip code.
If you’re outside of Oz then you should be able to watch 9Now through a VPN however, which will let you browse the web as if you were based in a different country.
We’ve extensively tested loads of different VPNs, and our top recommendation is NordVPN for its ease of use, privacy, and reliability – but check out our full guide to the best VPNs for more options.
Watch the ATP Cup on Amazon Prime
If you’re in the UK, you may be better off watching the tournament on Amazon Prime. This way you won’t need a VPN, and can watch through the Prime website or your app of choice.
You will of course need to pay for a Prime subscription, which is £79 for a year or £7.99 per month, but if you’re not a subscriber already then a free trial should see you through the duration of the tournament.
If you’re outside of the UK but have a Prime account, then you can also watch this way using a VPN, if you prefer using Prime to accessing 9Now.
Watch the ATP Cup on The Tennis Channel
Finally, if you’re in the US and don’t fancy using a VPN to access either 9Now or Amazon Prime UK, you can watch on The Tennis Channel.
This may already be included in your cable package, but if not you can access it through online service Sling. The Tennis Channel is included in the service’s Sports Add-on – so to get the base service and the sports channels will cost $50 per month, though the first month is reduced to $40. There’s also a three-day free trial, so if you time it right you could use this to watch the finals entirely for free.
The perk is that with both the Tennis Channel and ESPN included, you’ll then be set for watching the Australian Open later in the month too.
What is the ATP Cup format?
The ATP Cup is a team-based competition, with teams made up of the top players from the respective countries.
The 12 teams are first drawn into four groups of three, and each team plays the other two teams in its group. Each tie is a best-of-three including two singles matches and one doubles.
The winners of each group enter a semi-final in the same format, before the winners of those face off in the final.
2021 ATP Cup groups
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
