Garden Cup tennis 2024: Date, start time, how to watch, matchups, players

Some of the world’s biggest tennis stars will meet in the ‘Garden Cup,’ a one-night only event at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 4.

The world’s most famous arena will host an exhibition tennis match for the first time since 2018, as world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz and Americans Ben Shelton, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro are set to take the court in Manhattan.

Continue reading for all you need to know ahead of this event.

Garden Cup tennis 2024 date

The Garden Cup will take place on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

Garden Cup tennis 2024 start time

First serve at the Garden Cup is expected to take place at 7 PM ET.

How to watch Garden Cup tennis 2024, TV channel and streaming

The Garden Cup will be broadcast live on Tennis Channel.

Garden Cup location and venue

The Garden Cup will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.

Known as ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena,’ the Garden is the home arena of the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers, and is one of the world’s most iconic concert venues.

MSG has hosted tennis matches before, most recently the BNP Paribas Showdown between 2008 and 2017, which featured matchups between top players including Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras and more.

Who is playing in the 2024 Garden Cup?

The participants for the 2024 Garden Cup include four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, world No. 21 Ben Shelton, 2024 US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula, and world No. 8 Emma Navarro.

Alcaraz, 21, has emerged as the clear heir apparent to tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the next greatest all-around male player. In just four professional seasons, Alcaraz has won four Grand Slams (2x Wimbledon, 1x US Open, 1x French Open) and looks to be well on his way to a double-digit Grand Slam career.

Shelton, 22, broke out in 2023, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and semifinals at the US Open, where he lost to eventual champion Djokovic. While he was unable to reach those heights in the 2024 Grand Slams, American tennis fans are hopeful he can lift a major trophy in the coming years.

Pegula and Navarro are, alongside Coco Gauff, the strongest American women’s players in the world right now, with Pegula No. 7 in the world and Navarro No. 8.

Pegula is fresh off her first career Grand Slam singles final appearance at the 2024 US Open, where she lost in straight sets to Aryna Sabalenka. She has also appeared in three Grand Slam semifinals and a final in doubles.

Navarro, 23, played in all four Grand Slams for the first time in 2024, improving her finish in each one. After bowing out in the third round at the Australian Open, she went to the fourth round at the French Open, quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the semis at the US Open, where she lost to Pegula.