The second edition of the United Cup will once again act as the official curtain-raiser for the new tennis season Down Under.
Some of the sport's biggest stars will be in the Australian cities of Perth and Sydney for the 10-day spectacle that will begin in earnest on December 29 and run till January 7. Players participating in this mixed-gender competition can earn a maximum of 500 ranking points.
A total of 18 countries will feature in the second installment of the United Cup, among them the host nation Australia, which will be led by ATP World No. 12 Alex de Minaur. They will also be the source for the services of Ajla Tomljanovic, who recently returned to winning form at the 125 level in November.
Poland, the top-seeded country at the 2024 United Cup, has the most formidable duo on paper. WTA No. 1 Iga Swiatek and ATP No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz are participating for the second consecutive year.
Also returning is Team Greece with their effervescent pair of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari. The double prowess of Petros Tsitsipas (Stefanos's younger brother) could also be helpful. He is also part of the band.
The USA won the inaugural competition last season, but some valuable members from that title-winning team won't feature next season. However, they retained their top-ranked male and female players, with Taylor Frtiz and Jessica Pegula expected to shoulder all their hopes.
ATP World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is making his debut at the event where he is part of a Serbian team lacking experience but not talent. Newly-crowned Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hamad Medjedovic and 22-year-old Olga Danilovic form an exciting team.
Last season's runners-up, Italy, have rung the changes. This time, they'll be led by Lorenzo Sonego and Jasmine Paolini. The United Cup will mark as the official return tournament for Angelique Kerber, who is back from maternity leave. She'll join Alexander Zverev, Tatjana Maria, and Laura Siegemund in a decent German lineup.
Great Britain is also bringing some of their most prominent names, such as Cameron Norrie, Daniel Evans, and Katie Boulter, while Spain will be without Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. They'll entrust Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Sara Sorribes Tormo to take charge.
Russia and Belarus won't be allowed to enter this event for the second year. You can check the complete entry list of all the countries and players below.
2024 United Cup ATP & WTA Entry List:
| Seed | Nation | No. 1 ATP | No. 1 WTA | No. 2 ATP | No. 2 WTA | Doubles ATP | Doubles WTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | Hubert Hurkacz | Iga Swiatek | Daniel Michalski | Katarzyna Kawa | Jan Zielinski | Katarzyna Piter |
| 2 | Greece | Stefanos Tsitsipas | Maria Sakkari | Stefanos Sakellaridis | Despina Papamichail | Petros Tsitsipas | Valentini Grammatikopoulou |
| 3 | United States | Taylor Fritz | Jessica Pegula | Denis Kudla | Alycia Parks | Rajeev Ram | Desirae Krawczyk |
| 4 | France | Adrian Mannarino | Caroline Garcia | Antoine Escoffier | Amandine Hesse | Edouard Roger-Vasselin | Elixane Lechemia |
| 5 | Czech Republic | Jiri Lehecka | Marketa Vondrousova | Vit Kopriva | Sara Bejlek | Petr Nouza | Miriam Kolodziejova |
| 6 | Croatia | Borna Coric | Donna Vekic | Nino Serdarusic | Petra Marcinko | Ivan Dodig | Tena Lukas |
| 7 | Canada | Felix Auger-Aliassime | Leylah Fernandez | Alexis Galarneau | Stacey Fung | Adil Shamasdin | — |
| 8 | Great Britain | Cameron Norrie | Katie Boulter | Dan Evans | Francesca Jones | Neal Skupski | Maia Lumsden |
| 9 | China | Zhizhen Zhang | Qinwen Zheng | Yunchaokete Bu | Xiaodi You | Fajing Sun | — |
| 10 | Netherlands | Tallon Griekspoor | Arantxa Rus | Thiemo de Bakker | Arianne Hartono | Wesley Koolhof | Demi Schuurs |
| 11 | Spain | Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | Sara Sorribes Tormo | Roberto Carballes Baena | Marina Bassols Ribera | David Vega Hernandez | Rosa Vicens Mas |
| 12 | Italy | Lorenzo Sonego | Jasmine Paolini | Flavio Cobolli | Nuria Brancaccio | Andrea Pellegrino | Angelica Moratelli |
| 13 | Serbia | Novak Djokovic | Olga Danilovic | Hamad Medjedovic | Natalija Stevanović | Nikola Cacic | Dejana Radanovic |
| 14 | Norway | Casper Ruud | Malene Helgo | Andreja Petrovic | Ulrikke Eikeri | Nicolai Budkov Kjaer | — |
| 15 | Australia | Alex de Minaur | Ajla Tomljanovic | John Millman | Storm Hunter | Matthew Ebden | Ellen Perez |
| 16 | Germany | Alexander Zverev | Angelique Kerber | Maximilian Marterer | Tatjana Maria | Kai Wehnelt | Laura Siegemund |
| 17 | Brazil | Thiago Seyboth Wild | Beatriz Haddad Maia | Felipe Meligeni Alves | Carolina Meligeni Alves | Marcelo Melo | — |
| 18 | Chile | Nicolas Jarry | Daniela Seguel | Alejandro Tabilo | Fernanda Labrana | Tomas Barrios Vera | — |
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