Thursday, 28 March 2019:
 | | ROGER FEDERER of Switzerland plays a backhand during the Hopman Cup at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. | |
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Even Roger Federer's showdown with Serena Williams and a record attendance has not been enough to save the Hopman Cup.
The unique 31-year-old mixed teams event has become a casualty of the emerging new order in tennis, with Perth to host a section of the inaugural ATP Cup teams event from next summer instead.
The West Australian capital has been chosen ahead of Adelaide to host the first six days of the 24-team event along with Brisbane, with the eight-team finals to be played in Sydney.
The state's premier says he is disappointed in the outcome, claiming the decision was "outside the government's control."
"It has been a much loved event in Western Australia for the last 31 years," Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth on Thursday.
"The good thing is we're going to get a component of this new mens event," he said, promising the government would work with Tennis Australia to find a replacement women's event.
Co-founded by Australian doubles champion Paul McNamee in 1989 and named in honour of Harry Hopman, who guided Australia to 15 Davis Cup titles, the Hopman Cup proved a popular event to start the year in the lead up to the Australian Open.
Swiss champion Federer chose the Cup to launch his spectacular return to tennis in 2017 after six-months out of the game with a knee injury.
After he piloted Switzerland to the title, Federer completed an unbeaten summer to claim another slam title at Melbourne Park.
Novak Djokovic and Williams are among other superstars to have used the Hopman Cup as the kick-starter to successful Open campaigns in recent years.
In a statement Djokovic, who is President of the ATP Player Council, said he liked that the new cup would feature ranking points and be owned by the ATP.
"More than 90 per cent of the time we're playing as individuals and we don't have too many team events," he said.
A highlight of the 2019 Hopman Cup was the US-Swiss doubles showdown between Federer and Williams - the first time they had played a match against each other.
Federer's selfie with Williams taken after the exhibition match went viral, shared with their combined 20 million fans on Twitter.
With a $22 million prize pool, the ATP Cup will be the richest event outside the four grand slams.
