The men's-only ATP Cup is set to be axed in favour of a mixed-gender, Hopman Cup-style tennis tournament in the lead-up to the 2023 Australian Open.
While Tennis Australia has yet to formally announce the change, it's understood the ATP Cup is doomed after just three editions.
The new tournament, possibly to be named the United Cup, will allow ATP and WTA players the chance to represent their country together in a team competition to be held in various cities throughout Australia, just as the ATP Cup has in recent years.
The exciting development raises the prospect of fans seeing US Open quarter-finalists Nick Kyrgios and Ajla Tomljanovic teaming up for Australia and Emma Raducanu potentially partnering Andy Murray for Great Britain.
Other possible dream teams could include Greek pair Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, Frances Tiafoe and Coco Gauff for the United States and grand slam champions Rafael Nadal and Garbine Muguruza for Spain.
"Plans for the Australian summer are currently being finalised. We are excited about the options and what they will mean for both players and fans. We look forward to announcing more details soon," TA told AAP on Tuesday at the US Open in New York.
The introduction of the United Cup, or whatever it is called, comes after the Hopman Cup - a wildly-popular mixed team event staged in Perth - was scrapped in 2019 after 30 successful years.
The Hopman Cup's demise, after being one of the few global events teaming men with women, led to widespread uproar in the tennis community.
But the "United Cup" is believed to be a bigger and better version, with the addition of ranking points being up for grabs as well as millions of dollars in equally-distributed prize money.
The Hopman Cup featured tennis titans Roger Federer and Serena Williams facing off on the match court for the first and only time in their careers in the final edition of the tournament almost four years ago.
Since then, the only opportunity for ATP and WTA players to team up has come at the grand slams and the Olympic Games in mixed doubles.
But most top players opt against entering the mixed doubles at the grand slams to focus on singles, while the Olympics are only held every four years.
The "United Cup" is expected to consist of a round-robin format with at least 16 nations competing in the group stages to reach the knockouts, with men's and women's singles matches followed by mixed doubles.
Entry is likely to be determined by the singles rankings of each nation's ATP and WTA players, with regular tour-level events also taking place during the United Cup for those who are not ranked high enough or decide to play a regular event.
The ATP Cup followed a similar format.
