United Cup

The United Cup is a team competition that includes players from both ATP and WTA Tours that kicks off a new tennis season.

The United Cup was first held in 2023, following an effort by Tennis Australia to create an event featuring both ATP and WTA players. Towards that goal, the ATP Cup was replaced with the United Cup, as mixed events proved very successful and a proper crowd magnet in the past.

The unique format that allows teams of both ATP and WTA players to compete together isn't very frequent on the Tour, and it's actually the only mixed event that offers points to players. It's also the biggest event of its kind and proved a massive success in its maiden edition in 2023.

The format itself sees 18 countries compete in a round-robin format. Teams are divided into six groups of three nations, and in the first edition, the matches were played across three host cities. Brisbane hosted matches in the 5,500-seat Pat Rafter Arena, but from 2024, only two cities continued to host the event with the return of the Brisbane International.

Sydney hosts matches in the 10,500-seat Ken Rosewall Arena, while Perth hosts matches in the 15,500-seat RAC Arena.

The rules for qualification are simple. Six nations qualify by virtue of the ranking of their best-ranked ATP player. Six countries qualify according to the ranking of their best-ranked WTA player. The final six qualify based on the combined rankings of their players. Australia is the host nation and qualifies automatically.

This means that most countries that have at least one top player on either side of the sport will qualify for the event. Ties between nations initially used a best-of-five system, where the first to three points won, but changed to a best-of-three system in 2024.

As a result, only one men's singles match and one women's singles match are now played before a mixed doubles match, if necessary. Four nations ultimately play in the semi-finals, with a final being played on the last day of the event.

The first edition of the event was won by the USA, who defeated Italy 4-0 in the final. They went undefeated at the event, winning all five ties they played. After a lot of success in 2023, it wasn't a surprise that the event returned to the calendar in 2024.

In 2024, Germany won the tournament, even though they barely made it through the group stage, and in the knockout stage, every single match they played had to be decided in mixed doubles, with Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund winning all of them.

The tournament remained in the calendar in 2025 and 2026, slowly becoming a traditional season-starter for players. In 2025, the United States won the competition again, with Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz proving to be a great team.

In 2026, for the first time in the event's history, it began in January after many complaints from the players about the long tennis calendar. The United Cup previously started already in December of the previous year.