Jaume Munar will take on Sebastian Baez in the men’s singles, while Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro will face Solana Sierra in the women’s singles as Spain launches its campaign against Argentina in the United Cup mixed team tennis competition in Perth on Friday.
In the event that the singles matches do not produce a winner, these four players will compete in a mixed doubles clash to determine the outcome.
In other exciting matchups, Greece will challenge Japan, featuring Maria Sakkari against Naomi Osaka, and Stefanos Tsitsipas will clash with Shintaro Mochizuki in the men’s singles on the same court. This is the fourth edition of the United Cup, an international hard-court event hosted by Tennis Australia, played across Perth and Sydney.
Tournament Format
The event includes 18 national teams with up to three women’s and three men’s players each, competing in a group stage followed by a knockout format. Matches in Perth are set to be held at RAC Arena, while play in Sydney will take place at Ken Rosewall Arena.
The 18 teams are divided into six groups of three in a round-robin format. Groups A, C, and E will compete in Perth, while groups B, D, and F will play in Sydney. The three group winners and the best runner-up from each city will advance to the quarterfinals.
Upcoming Matches and Schedule
Perth will host its two quarterfinals on January 7, with the winners moving on to Sydney for the semifinals and final. Teams relocating from Perth will have a travel and rest day on January 8-9. The Sydney quarterfinals are slated for January 8-9, with the semifinals on January 10 and the final on January 11.
Each session includes a men’s singles match, a women’s singles match, and a mixed doubles match. Singles matches feature the top-ranked players from each country and are best-of-three tiebreak sets. Mixed doubles can involve any combination of players and take two tiebreak sets followed by a deciding 10-point match-tiebreak if necessary.
Group Standings
Group A:
- United States (1): Coco Gauff, Varvara Lepchenko, Nicole Melichar-Martinez
- Spain: Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Andrea Lazaro Garcia, Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers
- Argentina: Solana Sierra, Maria Lourdes Carle, Nicole Fossa Huergo
Group C:
- Italy (3): Jasmine Paolini, Nuria Brancaccio, Sara Errani
- France: Leolia Jeanjean, Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Elixane Lechemia
- Switzerland: Belinda Bencic, Naima Karamoko
Group E:
- Great Britain (5): Emma Raducanu, Olivia Nicholls, Katie Swan
- Greece: Maria Sakkari, Despina Papamichail, Sapfo Sakellaridi
- Japan: Naomi Osaka, Nao Hibino, Shintaro Mochizuki
Sydney:
Group B:
- Canada (2): Victoria Mboko, Kayla Cross, Gabriela Dabrowski
- Belgium: Elise Mertens, Greet Minnen, Lara Salden
- China: Zhu Lin, Xiaodi You
Group D:
- Australia (4): Maya Joint, Maddison Inglis, Storm Hunter
- Czechia: Barbora Krejcikova, Linda Fruhvirtova, Miriam Skoch
- Norway: Malene Helgo, Astrid Brune Olsen, Ulrikke Eikeri
Group F:
- Germany (6): Eva Lys, Laura Siegemund, Mina Hodzic
- Poland: Iga Swiatek, Katarzyna Kawa, Katarzyna Piter
- Netherlands: Suzan Lamens, Eva Vedder, Demi Schuurs