What is the Garden Cup?: All you need to know about MSG's tennis event

Need your dose of your favorite sport, tennis fans? Early December is a difficult time to find great tennis. While likely no healthy player is taking the month completely off - there will be daily practices, of course - there are hardly any tournaments happening until the very end of the month. In other words, tennis fans might look for the slowest drip of something resembling entertainment.

Here is the good news. On Wednesday, there is an event in New York City at Madison Square Garden called the Garden Cup. Get it? MSG equals garden and then there is a cup. Sure, the event is an exhibition, but there is some high-end talent involved. Plus, the fact that it doesn't matter who will win the matches does not detract from the fact that fans will see some great points.

Here is some more positive news. Just because you might not live in NYC, you can still watch the event. That is because the Tennis Channel will carry all the action. There will be two matches, involving three Americans, and also the best Spanish player since Rafael Nadal.

Everything you need to know about the 2024 version of the Garden Cup

The first match of the day will see WTA No. 7 Jessica Pegula take on No. 8 Emma Navarro. That match is scheduled to begin at 7 pm ET, though the Tennis Channel's coverage will begin at 6:30 pm. The two have only met once before with Pegula winning.

The second match is scheduled to start around 9 pm ET and will see ATP No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz play No. 21 Ben Shelton. Alcaraz is the better player, sure, but maybe Shelton, in front of an American audience, will stand a chance on an indoor hard court, a setting Alcaraz relatively struggles in.

This is the first Garden Cup held since 2018, but the event was held annually between 2008 and 2018. Other players who have appeared include Serena Williams, Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Venus Williams. No ranking points are awarded, obviously, but the event should be a fun watch for those who love tennis.

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