Everything is right again when international tennis is back in Perth.
The inaugural United Cup at RAC Arena (running December 29, 2022, to January 4, 2023) marks the return of top-level professional tennis to Western Australia for the first time since the last Hopman Cup three years ago.
Now, the countdown is on until the first serve.
What is the United Cup, and why should we be excited? Here’s everything you need to know about the exciting mixed-team event that concludes 2022 and opens the 2023 tennis season in Australia.
What is the United Cup?
The United Cup is a new mixed-team event, a joint ATP-WTA competition involving 18 countries.
Unlike most tennis tournaments, the United Cup will be held across three cities in Australia concurrently — Brisbane (Pat Rafter Arena), Perth (RAC Arena), and Sydney (Ken Rosewall Arena). Each city will be hosting two groups of three countries, who will face off in a round-robin format.
The ‘Final Four’ will be held in Sydney from Friday, January 6 to Sunday, January 8.
What is the format for the United Cup?
Each of the three cities will host two groups of three countries competing in a round-robin format.
Each city format will include:
- Each tie will comprise two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match.
- Group winners in each city will play off for one of three semi-final spots
- The three city champions will advance to the ‘Final Four’ (semi-finals), along with the next best-performing team from the playoffs.
This is also the first time Perth has hosted a mixed-team event where players are competing for valuable ranking points. Players can earn up to 500 points each during the United Cup — which should make for some fierce competition on the court.
Who will be playing in Perth?
While there won’t be any #1 ranked players attending, Perth will still be front row for world-class tennis action. The United Cup tournament’s top seed — Greece — will be among six nations scheduled to compete at RAC Arena. Greece will be joined by Belgium and Bulgaria in Group A. Sixth seed, France, landed in Group F alongside Argentina and Croatia.
If we break it down into individual players, Perth will welcome four top-10 ranked players — the most of any city in the United Cup’s group stage.
World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and world No.6 Maria Sakkari head up Greece’s team, while world No.4 Caroline Garcia will lead the French line-up. Rounding out the top-ranked players competing in Perth is Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who is currently ranked world No.5 in doubles and is a former world No.1.
United Cup Perth Schedule
See below for the full United Cup schedule in Perth from Thursday, December 29.
United Cup Perth Tickets
So Perth is offering a special 2-for-1 deal on tickets for readers.
Adult tickets start from $40, and kids 14 and under are free for all-day sessions. Visit Ticketek now to secure your seats at the United Cup this summer.
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