The United Cup
The United Cup is a global mixed-team event which will launch the 2023 tennis season and is to be held annually. This event is a joint initiative by the ATP and WTA in partnership with Tennis Australia.
Mixed teams from 18 countries will compete in three Australian cities – Brisbane, Perth and Sydney – over 11 days. Each team will consist of four men and four women. The competition offers a substantial prize pool of $15 million and 500 ATP points and 500 WTA points.
Brisbane, Perth and Sydney will each host two groups from three countries competing in a round-robin format from Thursday 29 December to Sunday 4 January 2023. Entry cut-off date is 7 November 2022.
Each tie consists of two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match. The winners of each group will play off and the city’s winners will advance to the Final Four of the United Cup in Sydney, which will be played from 6-8 January.
The next best-performing team from the group stage will complete the quartet. Like the Hopman Cup, which ran from 1989 to 2019 in Perth, the United Cup is also a team event.
However, the new event also offers ranking points, which the Hopman Cup did not, and includes up to four men and women from the same country, while the Hopman Cup was for teams of two players each. The United Cup is also officially part of the ATP and WTA Tour.
The first 12 countries will qualify for the United Cup via the six highest-ranked men and six highest-ranked women entered based on their ATP and WTA Tour rankings.
The remaining six teams will qualify according to the best-combined ranking of the highest-ranked men’s and women’s players from the same country.
Australia is guaranteed entry, either directly via ranking or with a wildcard as tournament hosts. There will be six groups of three countries in total, with two groups per city.
Host city Finals will be held in each city, with the three winners advancing to the semi-finals along with a losing host city finalist with the best record from its three matches.
Ties will be played across a day and evening session. Daily sessions will comprise men’s and women’s singles – night sessions will feature men’s and women’s singles and a mixed doubles.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley commented:- ”The United Cup presents a unique opportunity to unite both the men’s and women’s tours in a brand new way that has never been seen before. We have the opportunity here in Australia to leverage tennis’ unique position to allow the world’s top men and women to compete side by side and represent their country at the highest level. We couldn’t be more delighted to see how this event unfolds in January across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney”.
Key Dates
The United Cup will take place in Australia from Thursday 29 December to Sunday 8 January 2023. The entry cut-off date is Monday 7 November 2022. The United Cup draw will be held on Thursday 10 November and determine where the top 16 countries will play.
The last two teams will be determined week commencing 21 November. Brisbane (Pat Rafter Arena), Perth (RAC Arena) and Sydney (Ken Rosewall Arena) will host the group stage from Thursday 29 December to Wednesday 4 January 2023.
Update: The 18 countries are now confirmed for the first edition of the United Cup.
A brand-new annual mixed team event taking place across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from Thursday 29 December to Sunday 8 January 2023.
Bulgaria will join Greece and Belgium in Group A in Perth. Kazakhstan will join Poland and Switzerland in Group B in Brisbane. A blockbuster opening session in Perth will feature world No.4
Stefanas Tsitsipas of top seeded country Greece, up against former world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on Thursday 29 December at RAC Arena.
On day one in Brisbane, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and recently crowned Billie Jean King Cup winner Belinda Bencic of Switzerland will meet Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva at Pat Rafter Arena. Players for each country are now named.
