WTA, ATP and Tennis Australia collaborate on new United Cup mixed-gender team competition

Aiming to showcase equality at the highest level of tennis, The United Cup - a new mixed-gender team competition delivered via a strategic collaboration between the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Tennis Australia – will debut in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney this summer.

The new competition replaces the men-only ATP Cup (held for the past three years) while also effectively reviving the Hopman Cup mixed gender event, which Australia staged from its inception in 1989 until 2019.

Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia Chief Executive notes “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. 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. We couldn’t be more delighted to see how this event unfolds in January across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.”

The United Cup intends to launch the global tennis season from 29th December to 8th January, leading in to the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the year, whose 2023 edition is due to commence on 16th January.

Mixed teams from 18 countries will compete across the three Australian cities. Each team will comprise up to four men and up to four women.

Brisbane (Pat Rafter Arena), Perth (RAC Arena) and Sydney (Ken Rosewall Arena) will each host two groups of three countries competing in a round robin format from 29th December to 4th January. Each tie comprises two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles.

The winners of each group will play off, and the city winners advance to the United Cup Final Four in Sydney, played from 6th to 8th January. The next best performing team from the group stages will complete the quartet.

The United Cup offers US$15 million in prize money. In another world first for a mixed team event, 500 ATP and 500 WTA rankings points are also up for grabs.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman shared “The United Cup marks a major step forward for the game of tennis. 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.”

Images: Perth Federation Cup 2019 at VenuesWest's RAC Arena