10 December 2019 | Tennis West

Respected West Australian mural artist Jacob “Shakey” Butler has commenced work on a life-size mural that will celebrate the inaugural ATP Cup, which takes places in Perth from 3 to 8 January at RAC Arena.

 

The ATP Cup will feature 24 countries battle it out for AUD $22 million in prize money and valuable ATP ranking points, when it kick starts the new tennis season in 2020.

 

Perth will host a group stage of the competition with world No.1 Rafael Nadal leading Team Spain alongside Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in Group B.

 

Group D will be led by Russian world No.5 Daniil Medvedev and his captain Marat Safin. They go up against Italy featuring Matteo Berrettini  Italy, Team USA and Norway. The top placing teams will advance to the Final Eight in Sydney from 9 to 12 January. Read more about the teams here.

 

Located on the Yagan Square Walkway infront of the Perth City skyline, the mural will feature 19-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and world No.13 Kei Nishikori and celebrates Perth as the one of three host cities for the most exciting new tennis event in the world.

 

The mural will sit as the centre piece for the ATP Cup inspired walk from the Yagan Square public transport hub to RAC Arena with 300 event specific decals set to pave the way.

 

The mural will be officially completed and launched at Yagan Square this weekend, Saturday 14 December, with a host of activities also on offer between 10am and 2pm, including tennis, merchandise giveaways and an interactive tennis ball colouring experience that utilises the famous Tower Screen within Yagan Square. Fans who also attend the activation will be able to access an exclusive $30 ticket offer.

 

The Fremantle based artist, Jacob “Shakey” Butler is responsible for a host of prized murals including the Bledisloe Cup mural at King’s Square and the Josh Kennedy West Coast Eagles 2018 Premiership mural in Leederville.

 

“Public art is such a great way to engage people. There’s something quite unique about a piece of art that appears before your own eyes; it really helps to ignite a real sense of passion in people,” Butler said.

 

“I’m working on bringing the passion of the players through the eyes of Nadal and Nishikori whilst creating a real buzz for the ATP Cup.

 

“I love painting outdoors in full view of people passing by. I love seeing the excitement on their faces and the passion it evokes.”

 

Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts invites visitors to Yagan Square on Saturday to join in the mural completion celebrations with planned tennis activities, giveaways and exclusive ATP Cup ticketing offers.

 

“We’re incredibly excited to be hosting world No.1 Rafael Nadal in Perth for the all new ATP Cup and the mural is testament to that.

 

“With the celebrations surrounding the murals completion it will be a great opportunity for fans and locals to get involved in the excitement as we lead in to January’s event at RAC Arena and I encourage everyone to come down and see what all the fuss is about.

 

“There’s a real bonus to visiting Yagan Square on Saturday too, with all on-site visitors able to access a very special ticketing offer that enables you to purchase some of the a very special ticketing offer that enables you to purchase some of the best seats for just $30 for any night session,” Roberts said.

 

Perth will host two sessions of play for the first six days of the event. Countries will play the best of three matches with two singles and a doubles match played at every session. Fans expected to witness competition like never before.

 

ATP CUP PERTH 2020
Group B
Spain	Japan	Georgia	Uruguay
[1] Rafael Nadal [9] Roberto Bautista Agut [27] Pablo Carreno Busta Albert Ramos-Vinolas Feliciano Lopez	[13] Kei Nishikori Yoshihito Nishioka Yasutaka Uchiyama Go Soeda Ben McLachlan	[26] Nikoloz Basilashvili Aleksandre Metreveli George Tsivadze Aleksandre Bakshi Zura Tkemaladze	[45] Pablo Cuevas Martin Cuevas Juan-Martin Fumeaux Franco Roncadelli Ariel Behar
Group D
Russia	Italy	USA	Norway
[5] Daniil Medvedev [17] Karen Khachanov Teymuraz Gabashvili Ivan Nedelko Konstantin Kravchuk	[8] Matteo Berrettini [12] Fabio Fognini Stefano Travaglia Paolo Lorenzi Simone Bolelli	[19] John Isner [32] Taylor Fritz [36] Reilly Opelka Rajeev Ram Austin Krajicek	[54] Casper Ruud Viktor Durasovic Lukas Hellum-Lilleengen Leyton Rivera Herman Hoeyeraal

 

For more event information visit www.atpcup.com

 

To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au

 

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About the ATP Cup
The ATP Cup is an annual 24-country team competition featuring AUD $22 million prize money and a maximum of 750 singles and 250 doubles ATP Rankings points. The ATP Cup is staged in partnership with Tennis Australia. The ATP Cup will begin the new season and in 2020 will run from 3 to 12 January. The tournament will be played over six days in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. The eight surviving teams will advance to the Final Eight in Sydney.

ATP Cup Perth is supported by the State Government through Tourism WA.