United Cup, the ATP and WTA tours’ new joint venture, begins on Thursday in three Australian cities with plenty of prize money and ranking points at stake.
And the mixed teams United Cup could also help shake off some of the holiday season rust ahead of the Australian Open starting Jan. 16 in Melbourne.
The inaugural United Cup has teams from 18 countries competing in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney through to January 4. Then the three city champions and the next-best performing country from the group stage will meet at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney from Jan. 6 to 8 to determine the overall winner.
Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the Australian team with an apparent ankle injury sustained in an exhibition tournament last week in Dubai. The Wimbledon finalist was expected to lead the Australian team, facing Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Sydney on Thursday night, but withdrew ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled media conference.
Kyrgios was also due to play Rafael Nadal in the most eagerly-anticipated match of the event when Australia meets Spain next week.
“Team Australia update: Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the United Cup due to injury,” United Cup organizers tweeted.
Prize money
The tournament offers $15 million in prize money.
Ranking Points
Up to 500 ATP and 500 WTA rankings points are up for grabs.
Kyrgios’ Australian teammates only learned 10 minutes before the media conference that he would no longer be joining them.
Team captain Samantha Stosur said she hadn’t spoken to Kyrgios about his decision and wouldn’t comment on whether he would be fit for the Australian Open.
“I’m not going to speak for Nick’s summer, we’ve got to leave that for him,” Stosur said.
With Kyrgios out, world No. 24 Alex de Minaur will move into the No. 1 men’s position for Australia and play against Norrie and Nadal, with No. 107 Jason Kubler — the fifth-ranked Aussie male — promoted to the No.2 spot.
Top-seeded Greece is led by world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 6-ranked woman Maria Sakkari. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 11 Hubert Hurkacz will lead second-seeded Poland, with third-seeded United States featuring world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, ninth-ranked Taylor Fritz, world No. 11 Madison Keys and No. 19 Frances Tiafoe.
Nadal will team with world No. 13 Paula Badosa for Spain, while Italy will have world No.16 Matteo Berrettini and Martina Trevisan.
Each host city will feature two groups of three countries, competing in a round-robin format. Each tie will have two men and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match to be played over two days.
Among other matches on Thursday’s opening day, the United States plays Czech Republic in a day Group C encounter, also in Sydney. In Brisbane, it’s Italy vs. Brazil in a day Group E match and Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan at night in Group B.
At Perth, Greece plays Bulgaria in Group A and France plays Argentina later in a night Group F match.
Day 1 - December 29, 2022
Group C - USA vs Czech Republic - Sydney
Men’s Singles - Taylor Fritz vs Jiri Lehecka
Women’s Singles - Madison Keys vs Marie Bouzkova
Group D - Australia vs Great Britain - Sydney
Men’s Singles - Alex de Minaur vs Cameron Norrie
Women’s Singles - Zoe Hives vs Katie Swan
Group A - Greece vs Bulgaria - Perth
Women’s Singles - Despina Papamichail vs Isabella Shinikova
Men’s Singles - Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Grigor Dimitrov
Group F - France vs Argentina - Perth
Women’s Singles - Alize Cornet vs Maria Carle
Men’s Singles - Arthur Rinderknech vs Francisco Cerundolo
Group E - Italy vs Brazil - Brisbane
Women’s Singles - Martina Trevisan vs Beatriz Haddad Maia
Men’s Singles - Lorenzo Musetti vs Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves
Group B - Switzerland vs Kazakhstan - Brisbane
Women’s Singles - Belinda Bencic vs Yulia Putintseva
Men’s Singles - Marc-Andrea Huesler vs Timofey Skatov
Day 2 - December 30, 2022
Group C - USA vs Czech Republic - Sydney
Women’s Singles - Jessica Pegula vs Petra Kvitova
Men’s Singles - Frances Tiafoe vs Tomas Machac
Mixed Doubles - Jessica Pegula/Taylor Fritz vs Jesica Maleckova/Dalibor Svrcina
Group D - Australia vs Great Britain - Sydney
Women’s Singles - Ajla Tomljanovic vs Harriet Dart
Men’s Singles - Jason Kubler vs Daniel Evans
Mixed Doubles - Samantha Stosur/John Peers vs Harriet Dart/Daniel Evans
Group A - Greece vs Bulgaria - Perth
Women’s Singles - Maria Sakkari vs Viktoriya Tomova
Men’s Singles - Michail Pervolarakis vs Dimitar Kuzmanov
Mixed Doubles - Maria Sakkari/Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Viktoriya Tomova/Grigor Dimitrov
Group F - France vs Argentina - Perth
Women’s Singles - Caroline Garcia vs Nadia Podoroska
Men’s Singles - Adrian Mannarino vs Federico Coria
Mixed Doubles - Caroline Garcia/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs Nadia Podoroska/Francisco Cerundolo
Group E - Italy vs Brazil - Brisbane
Men’s Singles - Matteo Berrettini vs Thiago Monteiro
Women’s Singles - Lucia Bronzetti vs Laura Pigossi
Mixed Doubles - Camilla Rosatello/Matteo Berrettini vs Luisa Stefani/Rafael Matos
Group B - Switzerland vs Kazakhstan - Brisbane
Men’s Singles - Stanislas Wawrinka vs Alexander Bublik
Women’s Singles - Jil Teichmann vs Zhibek Kulambayeva
Mixed Doubles - Belinda Bencic/Stanislas Wawrinka vs Yulia Putintseva/Alexander Bublik
Day 3 - December 31, 2022
Group C - Germany vs Czech Republic - Sydney
Men’s Singles - Alexander Zverev - Jiri Lehecka
Women’s Singles - Jule Niemeier vs Marie Bouzkova
Group D - Spain vs Great Britain - Sydney
Men’s Singles - Rafael Nadal vs Cameron Norrie
Women’s Singles - Nuria Parrizas-Diaz vs Katie Swan
Group A - Belgium vs Bulgaria - Perth
Women’s Singles - Alison Van Uytvanck vs Isabella Shinikova
Men’s Singles - David Goffin vs Grigor Dimitrov
Group F - Croatia vs Argentina - Perth
Women’s Singles - Donna Vekic vs Maria Carle
Men’s Singles - Borna Coric vs Francisco Cerundolo
Group E - Brazil vs Norway - Brisbane
Women’s Singles - Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Malene Helgo
Men’s Singles - Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves vs Viktor Durasovic
Group B - Poland vs Kazakhstan - Brisbane
Women’s Singles - Iga Swiatek vs Yulia Putintseva
Men’s Singles - Daniel Michalski vs Timofey Skatov
Day 4 - January 1, 2023
Group C - Germany vs Czech Republic - Sydney
Women’s Singles - Laura Siegemund vs Petra Kvitova
Men’s Singles - Oscar Otte vs Tomas Machac
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group D - Spain vs Great Britain - Sydney
Women’s Singles - Paula Badosa vs Harriet Dart
Men’s Singles - Pablo Carreno Busta vs Daniel Evans
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group A - Belgium vs Bulgaria - Perth
Women’s Singles - Elise Mertens vs Viktoriya Tomova
Men’s Singles - Zizou Bergs vs Dimitar Kuzmanov
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group F - Croatia vs Argentina - Perth
Women’s Singles - Petra Martic vs Nadia Podoroska
Men’s Singles - Borna Gojo vs Federico Coria
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group E - Brazil vs Norway - Brisbane
Men’s Singles - Thiago Monteiro vs Casper Ruud
Women’s Singles - Laura Pigossi vs Ulrikke Eikeri
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group B - Poland vs Kazakhstan - Brisbane
Men’s Singles - Hubert Hurkacz vs Alexander Bublik
Women’s Singles - Magda Linette vs Zhibek Kulambayeva
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Day 5 - January 2, 2023
Group C - USA vs Germany - Sydney
Men’s Singles - Taylor Fritz vs Alexander Zverev
Women’s Singles - Madison Keys vs Jule Niemeier
Group D - Spain vs Australia - Sydney
Men’s Singles - Rafael Nadal vs Alex de Minaur
Women’s Singles - Nuria Parrizas-Diaz vs Zoe Hives
Group A - Greece vs Belgium - Perth
Women’s Singles - Despina Papamichail vs Alison Van Uytvanck
Men’s Singles - Stefanos Tsitsipas vs David Goffin
Group F - France vs Croatia - Perth
Women’s Singles - Alize Cornet vs Donna Vekic
Men’s Singles - Arthur Rinderknech vs Borna Coric
Group E - Italy vs Norway - Brisbane
Women’s Singles - Martina Trevisan vs Malene Helgo
Men’s Singles - Lorenzo Musetti vs Viktor Durasovic
Group A - Poland vs Switzerland - Brisbane
Women’s Singles - Iga Swiatek vs Belinda Bencic
Men’s Singles - Daniel Michalski vs Marc-Andrea Huesler
Day 6 - January 3, 2023
Group C - USA vs Germany - Sydney
Women’s Singles - Jessica Pegula vs Laura Siegemund
Men’s Singles - Frances Tiafoe vs Oscar Otte
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group D - Spain vs Australia - Sydney
Women’s Singles - Paula Badosa vs Ajla Tomljanovic
Men’s Singles - Pablo Carreno Busta vs Jason Kubler
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group A - Greece vs Belgium - Perth
Women’s Singles - Maria Sakkari vs Elise Mertens
Men’s Singles - Michail Pervolarakis vs Zizou Bergs
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group F - France vs Croatia - Perth
Women’s Singles - Caroline Garcia vs Petra Martic
Men’s Singles - Adrian Mannarino vs Borna Gojo
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group E - Italy vs Norway - Brisbane
Men’s Singles - Matteo Berrettini vs Casper Ruud
Women’s Singles - Lucia Bronzetti vs Ulrikke Eikeri
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Group A - Poland vs Switzerland - Brisbane
Men’s Singles - Hubert Hurkacz vs Stanislas Wawrinka
Women’s Singles - Magda Linette vs Jil Teichmann
Mixed Doubles - To be decided vs To be decided
Day 6 & 7 - January 6-7, 2023 - Semifinals in Sydney
Day 8 - January 8, 2023 - Final, Sydney
Team captains
Group A
Greece - Petros Tsitsipas
Belgium - Kirsten Flipkens
Bulgaria - Grigor Dimitrov
Group B
Poland - Agnieszka Radwanska & Dawid Celt
Switzerland - Stanislas Wawrinka
Kazakhstan - Alexander Bublik
Group C
USA - David Witt
Germany - Mischa Zverev
Czech Republic - Jiri Vanek
Group D
Spain - Marc Lopez
Australia - Lleyton Hewitt & Sam Stosur
Great Britain - Tim Henman
Group E
Italy - Vincenzo Santopadre
Brazil - Rafael Pacharoni
Norway - Christian Ruud
Group F
France - Edouard Roger-Vasselin
Croatia - Iva Majoli
Argentina - Gisela Dulko
