United Cup 2024: Players, nations, groups, tickets as tennis tournament returns to Australia

Contributor
Joshua Mayne
United Cup 2024: Players, nations, groups, tickets as tennis tournament returns to Australia image

The United Cup — the ATP Cup's successor — is returning for 2024.

National teams will be going toe-to-toe as some of the sport's biggest names compete in the mixed warm-up event ahead of the Australian Open. 

The Sporting News takes you through the key details.

MORE: United Cup 2024 – Schedule and results

How does the United Cup work?

The United Cup is a mixed tennis tournament, played in a team competition format. 

Eighteen countries will take part in the upcoming event, with Sydney and Perth to host nine teams each — three more than last year.

Countries have been placed into six groups of three before facing off in a round-robin format.

Each tie will comprise one men's singles, one women's singles and one mixed doubles match.

The three group winners in each city will progress to the quarterfinals, joined by the best runner-up.

Sydney will then host the semifinals and final.

As a combined ATP-WTA event, a minimum of AU$15 million of prize money will be on offer, as well as 1000 combined rankings points.

Where is the United Cup being played? Schedule, dates, venues

The 2024 edition of the United Cup will be played in the Australian cities of Perth (RAC Arena) and Sydney (Ken Rosewall Arena).

It will run from December 29, 2023 through to January 7, 2024.

United Cup 2024: Perth schedule

DateTime (AEDT)StageGroupTeams
Fri. Dec. 291:00 p.m.GroupASpain vs. Brazil
Fri. Dec. 298:00 p.m.GroupCGreat Britain vs. Australia
Sat. Dec. 301:00 p.m.GroupECzech Republic vs. China
Sat. Dec. 308:00 p.m.GroupAPoland vs. Brazil
Sun. Dec. 311:00 p.m.GroupCUSA vs. Great Britain
Sun. Dec. 318:00 p.m.GroupEChina vs. Serbia
Mon. Jan. 11:00 p.m.GroupAPoland vs. Spain
Mon. Jan. 18:00 p.m.GroupCUSA vs. Australia
Tue. Jan. 21:00 p.m.GroupECzech Republic vs. Serbia
Wed. Jan. 31:00 p.m.QF1-Group A winner vs. Best runner-up
Wed. Jan. 38:00 p.m.QF2-Group C winner vs. Group E winner

United Cup 2024: Sydney schedule

DateTime (AEDT)StageGroupTeams
Sat. Dec. 3010:30 a.m.GroupFNetherlands vs. Norway
Sat. Dec. 305:30 p.m.GroupDItaly vs. Germany
Sun. Dec. 3110:30 a.m.GroupBCanada vs. Chile
Mon. Jan. 110:30 a.m.GroupFCroatia vs. Norway
Mon. Jan. 15:30 p.m.GroupDFrance vs. Germany
Tue. Jan. 210:30 a.m.GroupBGreece vs. Chile
Tue. Jan. 25:30 p.m.GroupFCroatia vs. Netherlands
Wed. Jan. 310:30 a.m.GroupDFrance vs. Italy
Wed. Jan. 35:30 p.m.GroupBGreece vs. Canada
Thu. Jan. 45:30 p.m.QF3-Group D winner vs. Group F winner
Fri. Jan. 55:30 p.m.QF4-Group B winner vs. Best runner-up
Sat. Jan. 610:30 a.m.SF1-QF1 winner vs. QF3 winner
Sat. Jan. 65:30 p.m.SF2-QF2 winner vs. QF4 winner
Sun. Jan. 75:30 p.m.Final-SF1 winner vs. SF2 winner

The full schedule – including every game – can be viewed here.

United Cup 2024: How to buy tickets

Tickets for every stage of the United Cup are currently on sale via the tournament's official website.

General admission entrance for the group stage starts at AU$40, while entry to the finals in Sydney starts at AU$90.

United Cup 2024: Draw, groups, players, seeds

All 18 countries have now been announced for the United Cup.

Reigning men's Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is a notable inclusion for Serbia, along with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek who is part of the top-seeded Poland team.

No. 2 seeds Greece have confirmed the participation of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, while host nation Australia will be led by Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanović. 

Notably, five of the world’s top 10 women and nine of the world’s top 20 men will play at the event.

Perth

Group A

#1 Poland

Hubert HurkaczIga Swiatek
Daniel MichalskiKatarzyna Kawa
Jan ZielinskiKatarzyna Piter

#11 Spain

Alejandro Davidovich FokinaSara Sorribes Tormo
Roberto Carballes BaenaMarina Bassols Ribera
Bernabe Zapata MirallesNuria Parrizas Diaz

#17 Brazil

Thiago Seyboth WildBeatriz Haddad Maia
Felipe Meligeni AlvesCarolina Alves
Marcelo Melo-

Group C

#3 USA

Taylor FritzJessica Pegula
Denis KudlaAlycia Parks
Rajeev RamDesirae Krawczyk

#8 Great Britain

Cameron NorrieKatie Boulter
Daniel EvansFrancesca Jones
Neal SkupskiMaia Lumsden

#15 Australia

Alex de MinaurAjla Tomljanovic
John MillmanStorm Hunter
Matt EbdenEllen Perez

Group E

#5 Czech Republic

Jiri LeheckaMarketa Vondrousova
Vit KoprivaSara Bejlek
Petr NouzaMiriam Kolodziejova

#9 China

Zhizhen ZhangQinwen Zheng
Yunchaokete BuXiaodi You
Fajing Sun-

#13 Serbia

Novak DjokovicOlga Danilovic
Hamad MedjedovicNatalija Stevanovic
Nikola CacicDejana Radanovic

Sydney

Group B

#2 Greece

Stefanos TsitsipasMaria Sakkari
Stefanos SakellaridisDespina Papamichail
Petros TsitsipasValentini Grammatikopoulou

#7 Canada

Felix Auger-AliassimeLeylah Fernandez
Alexis GalarneauStacey Fung
Peter Polansky-

#18 Chile

Nicolas JarryDaniela Seguel
Tomas Barrios VeraFernanda Labrana
Alejandro Tabilo-

Group D

#4 France

Adrian MannarinoCaroline Garcia
Antoine EscoffierAmandine Hesse
Edouard Roger-VasselinElixane Lechemia

#12 Italy

Lorenzo SonegoJasmine Paolini
Flavio CobolliNuria Brancaccio
Andrea PellegrinoAngelica Moratelli

#16 Germany

Alexander ZverevAngelique Kerber
Maximilian MartererTatjana Maria
Kai WehneltLaura Siegemund

Group F

#6 Croatia

Borna CoricDonna Vekic
Nino SerdarusicPetra Marcinko
Ivan DodigTena Lukas

#10 Netherlands

Tallon GriekspoorArantxa Rus
Thiemo De BakkerArianne Hartono
Wesley KoolhofDemi Schuurs

#14 Norway

Casper RuudMalene Helgo
Andreja PetrovicUlrikke Eikeri
Nicolai Budkov Kjaer-

How are countries selected for the United Cup?

Countries for the tournament are selected from the nations of the top five men's and women's players, according to ATP and WTA rankings.

The remaining teams earned entry based on combined men's/women's rankings.

How to watch the United Cup

As the rights holders of the upcoming Summer of Tennis - including the Australian Open - the Nine Network will broadcast the United Cup in Australia. 

Fans will be able to watch most sessions across Nine's free-to-air channels – including Channel 9, Go! and 9Gem – but will need to check local guides.

The action can also be streamed for free on 9Now or via subscription service Stan Sport.

What happened to the ATP Cup?

Replacing the Hopman Cup in 2020, the ATP Cup has lasted just three years.

A male-only tournament, it pitted nations together in a team competition format. 

Team Serbia claimed the inaugural edition, with Team Russia (2021) and Team Canada (2022) the other victors. 

Ultimately, the ATP Cup has been replaced due to the increasing cooperation between the men's and women's tennis tours — the ATP and WTA. 

The significant prize pool for the United Cup reflects the backing mixed tournaments are receiving, as tennis prioritises efforts towards equality.