Tennis Australia, ATP, WTA Introduce United Cup To Launch 2023 Season
Friday, October 28, 2022 at 03:58PM By Barry Janoff
UPDATED December 28, 2022: Tennis Channel is the exclusive home for the inaugural United Cup, Dec. 28-Jan. 8, in Australia. The new tournament features combined men’s and women’s teams competing for their nations and tour points.
The event will open the 2023 pro tennis season and lead into the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, scheduled for Jan. 16-29.
Tennis Channel said it would have 80 live hours of coverage, with another 60 hours of encore coverage. The network’s second channel, T2 on Samsung TV Plus, will also offer live matches of the event, as will streaming service Tennis Channel Plus. That platform will make all United Cup competition available on demand following their conclusion.
The 18 United Cup countries include: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.
October 28, 2022: Tennis Australia, the ATP Tour and the Holgoic WTA Tour today unveiled details for the United Cup, a mixed-gender singles and doubles team competition featuring the top men’s and women’s players from 18 countries, with $15 million in prize money and 500 ATP and 500 WTA rankings points available.
The United Cup is scheduled for Dec. 29-Jan. 8, with matches to be played in groups in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.
The event will open the 2023 pro tennis season and lead into the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, scheduled for Jan. 16-29.
“The United Cup presents a unique opportunity to unite both the men’s and women’s tour in a brand new way that has never been seen before,” Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO, said via the organization.
“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.
The United Cup replaces the ATP Cup, held in Australia from 2020-2022, which in turn replaced the mixed team Hopman Cup, also played in Australia from 1989-2019
Each team will comprise up to four men and up to four women, a format similar to World TeamTennis, co-founded by Billie Jean King in 1974.
According to Tennis Australia, the first 12 countries would qualify for the United Cup via the “six highest-ranked men and six highest-ranked women entered, based on their Pepperstone ATP and Hologic WTA Tour rankings.”
The remaining six teams would qualify according to the best combined ranking of the highest-ranked men’s and women’s players from the same country
As host, Australia is guaranteed entry, either directly via ranking or as a wild card.
Team Australia, which also oversees the Australian Open, is still awaiting a decision from government officials regarding COVID-19 and whether or not unvaccinated players such as Novak Djokovic would be allowed to participate.
Team Australia has already said that players from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to participate in the Grand Slam, but with restrictions,
"The only difference will be that they cannot represent Russia, cannot represent the flag of Russia, cannot participate in any activity such as the anthem of Russia and have to play as independent players." Tiley said during a recent media conference.
Rules regarding COVID-19 and Russian players likely would apply to the United Cup.
Brisbane’ Pat Rafter Arena), Perth’ RAC Arena and Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena are scheduled to host the group stage, Dec. 29- Jan. 4.
The winners of each group will play off, with each city winner plush next best performing team from the group stages advancing to the United Cup Final Four in Sydney, Jan. 6-8 January.
“The United Cup marks a major step forward for the game of tennis,” Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP chairman, said via the organization.
“Most importantly, it will create incredible new experiences for our fans. We’re excited to see the best men’s and women’s players competing together, with ranking points on the line, to launch the season like never before.”
According to Steve Simon, WTA chairman and CEO, via the organization, “The United Cup is an important and strategic collaboration between the WTA, the ATP and Tennis Australia that reflects a continued commitment in elevating our sport.
“This exciting singles and mixed doubles team event will bring together emerging stars and established athletes from both Tours to compete on the same stage, giving players and fans a unique experience in which the final outcome may be determined with women and men competing together.”
Australia will also host a combined WTA 500 and ATP 250 event, the Adelaide International, scheduled for Jan. 9-15; and the Hobart International.
Aussie Open Plans Grandest Slam
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