Nadal And Swiatek Headline Star-Studded United Cup

United Cup

Tennis Australia Press Release, November 10, 2022

A star-studded field has been named for the inaugural United Cup, an annual mixed team event set to be played in BrisbanePerth and Sydney from Thursday 29 December to Sunday 8 January 2023.

Entries from the top 16 countries have been announced today, with Team Greece, led by world No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and [6] Maria Sakkari named as the top seeds.

World No.1 Iga Swiatek and [11] Hubert Hurkacz will lead No.2-seeded Poland, with third seeded United States featuring a wealth of talent, including world No.3 Jessica Pegula, ninth-ranked Taylor Fritz, world No.11 Madison Keys and the charismatic showman, world No.19 Frances Tiafoe.

The legendary Rafael Nadal will team up with world No.13 Paula Badosa to fly the flag for Spain, while emerging tennis powerhouse Italy will star world No.16 Matteo Berrettini and Martina Trevisan.

France rounds out the top six seeds, led by WTA Finals winner and world No.4 Caroline Garcia and Arthur Rinderknech.

Nick KyrgiosAjla Tomljanovic and Alex de Minaur will don the green and gold to represent Australia.

Other notable entries include Norway’s world No.4 Casper RuudGermany’s Alexander Zverev and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Stan Wawrinka, along with Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

The top six WTA ranking-qualified countries, top five ATP ranking-qualified countries and the top five combined entry countries have been admitted to the competition.

The final two remaining countries (one ATP and one combined entry) will be admitted to the competition on Monday 21 November, based on the rankings published on this date.

LIST OF QUALIFIED COUNTRIES AND PLAYER ENTRY LIST

ATP

3

448

866

159*

GREECE

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Michail Pervolarakis

Stefanos Sakellaridis

Petros Tsitsipas

WTA

6

156

200

249*

 

Maria Sakkari

Despina Papamichail

Valentini Grammatikopoulou

Sapfo Sakellaridi

 

11

82

244

P24*

POLAND

Hubert Hurkacz

Kamil Majchrzak

Daniel Michalski

Lukasz Kubot

1

49

249

34*

Iga Swiatek

Magda Linette

Weronika Falkowska

Alicja Rosolska

 

9

19

104

83*

USA

Taylor Fritz

Frances Tiafoe

Denis Kudla

Hunter Reese

3

11

118

16*

Jessica Pegula

Madison Keys

Alycia Parks

Desirae Krawczyk

 

2

13

39

31*

SPAIN

Rafael Nadal

Pablo Carreno Busta

Albert Ramos-Vinolas

David Vega Hernandez

13

72

206

Paula Badosa

Nuria Parrizas Diaz

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

 

16

23

176

113*

ITALY

Matteo Berrettini

Lorenzo Musetti

Andrea Vavassori

Marco Bortolotti

28

56

230

267

Martina Trevisan

Lucia Bronzetti

Camila Rosatello

Nuria Brancaccio

 

44

48

135

32*

FRANCE

Arthur Rinderknech

Adrian Mannarino

Manuel Guinard

Edouard Roger-Vasselin

4

36

125

103*

Caroline Garcia

Alize Cornet

Leolia Jeanjean

Jessika Ponchet

 

22

24

105

38*

AUSTRALIA

Nick Kyrgios

Alex de Minaur

Jason Kubler

John Peers

33

P142

177

113*

Ajla Tomljanovic

Zoe Hives

Maddison Inglis

Samantha Stosur

 

26

145

P386

CROATIA

Borna Coric

Borna Gojo

Matija Pecotic

39

69

187

194

Petra Martic

Donna Vekic

Tara Wurth

Petra Marcinko

 

P22

58

111

170

SWITZERLAND

Stan Wawrinka

Marc-Andrea Huesler

Dominic Stricker

Alexander Ritschard

12

35

152

186

Belinda Bencic

Jil Teichmann

Ylena In-Albon

Joanne Zuger

 

P2

59

80

107*

GERMANY

Alexander Zverev

Oscar Otte

Daniel Altmaier

Fabian Fallert

P57

61

145

144*

Laura Siegemund

Jule Niemeier

Anna-Lena Friedsam

Julia Lohoff

 

65

164

199

28*

BRAZIL

Thiago Monteiro

Felipe Meligeni Alves

Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida

Rafael Matos

15

11419955*

Beatriz Haddad Maia

Laura Pigossi

Carolina Alves

Luisa Stefani

 

53

138

191

162*

BELGIUM

David Goffin

Zizou Bergs

Kimmer Coppejans

Michael Geerts

29

54

239

30*

Elise Mertens

Alison Van Uytvanck

Magali Kempen

Kirsten Flipkens

 

74

117

206

207

CZECH REPUBLIC

Jiri Lehecka

Tomas Machac

Lukas Rosol

Dalibor Svrcina

16

26

309

Petra Kivitova

Marie Bouzkova

Jesika Maleckova

 

14

27

265

92*

GREAT BRITAIN

Cameron Norrie

Daniel Evans

Jan Choinski

Jonny O’Mara

98

121

376

J22

Harriet Dart

Katie Swan

Anna Brogan

Ella McDonald

 

25

30

68

37*

ARGENTINA

Diego Schwartzman

Francisco Cerundolo

Federico Coria

Andres Molteni

P39

161

184

Nadia Podoroska

Maria Carle

Paula Ormaechea

 

4

333

1264

NORWAY

Casper Ruud

Viktor Durasovic

Andreja Petrovic

375

394

759

Ulrikke Eikeri

Malene Helgo

Lilly Haseth

P= Protected ranking, J= Junior ranking, *= Doubles ranking

“The playing group is very excited about the United Cup, and that’s confirmed in the high quality and calibre of those who’ve committed to the event. We are delighted with the depth and breadth of the teams, and we can look forward to many exciting match ups and lots of entertaining tennis,” United Cup Tournament Director Stephen Farrow said.

“The United Cup also marks the return of international tennis to Brisbane and Perth and we know the fans can’t wait to soak up all the action. All three cities will relish the opportunity to see the world’s best players unite and compete side by side as we launch the tennis season globally here in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.”

Brisbane, Perth and Sydney will each host two groups of three countries competing in a round-robin format from 29 December to 4 January. Each tie comprises two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match.

The winners of each group will play off, with the city winners advancing to the United Cup Final Four in Sydney to be played from 6 to 8 January. The next best performing team from the group stages will complete the quartet.

Player field fast facts

  • The United Cup field has won a combined 31 Grand Slam singles and 24 Grand Slam doubles titles
  • Four of the women’s current top 10 (Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia, Maria Sakkari)
  • Four of the men’s current top 10 (Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz)
  • Nine of the women’s current top 20 (Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia, Maria Sakkari, Madison Keys, Belinda Bencic, Paula Badosa, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Petra Kvitova)
  • Nine of the men’s current top 20 (Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Hubert Hurkacz, Pablo Carreno Busta, Cameron Norrie, Matteo Berrettini, Frances Tiafoe)
  • Five current or former world No.1 players in singles or doubles (Iga Swiatek, Rafael Nadal, Lukasz Kubot, Sam Stosur, Elise Mertens)
  • Five Grand Slam singles champions (Iga Swiatek, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Petra Kvitova, Sam Stosur)
  • Nine Grand Slam doubles champions (Lukasz Kubot, Desirae Krawczyk, Laura Siegemund, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Caroline Garcia, Nick Kyrgios, John Peers, Sam Stosur, Elise Mertens)
  • Seven players that contested Grand Slam mixed doubles finals in 2022 (Desirae Krawczyk, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Ulrikke Eikeri, Jason Kubler, John Peers, Sam Stosur, Kirsten Flipkens)
  • 12 players who qualified for the season-ending 2022 ATP and WTA Finals (Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Desirae Krawczyk, Caroline Garcia, Maria Sakkari, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Elise Mertens, Rafael Nadal, Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Nick Kyrgios).