United Cup

The United Cup is an international hard court tennis tournament featuring mixed-gender teams from 18 countries. The first event was held in December 2022 through January 2023.[1] The tournament is played across three Australian cities over 11 days in the leadup to the Australian Open. It is also the first mixed-gender team event to offer both ATP rankings and WTA rankings points to its players:[2] a player will be able to win a maximum of 500 points.

United Cup
Tournament information
FoundedDecember 2022
Editions1
LocationBrisbane, Perth, and Sydney
Australia
SurfaceHard
Draw18 teams
Prize moneyUSD 15,000,000
Current champion USA (1st title)
WebsiteUnitedCup.com

History

On 7 August 2022, Tennis Australia announced that the ATP Cup, which was an international outdoor hard court men's team tournament played in the Australian summer, would be shut down and replaced by a mixed-gender event from 2023.[3][4] Thus, the first edition of the United Cup directly replaced the ATP Cup (2020–2022) on the ATP Tour calendar.

Tournament

Format

Every tie in the tournament consists of 2 men's singles matches, 2 women's singles matches, and a mixed doubles match.

Each tie is split into two sessions played in different days. In the first day 1 men's singles match and 1 women's singles match take place; in the second day another men's singles match and another women's singles match take place, followed by a mixed doubles match.

Each city hosts two groups of three countries in a round robin format on the first week of the tournament. One group in each city plays all its ties in the morning sessions while the other plays in the evening sessions.

The group winners in each city play off in a city final for one of three semifinal spots. This city final is played in one day across a morning and an evening session. Of the three losing teams, one with the best record up to that point becomes the fourth semifinalist.

There is a travel day allocated before the semifinals and finals take place in Sydney.

Semifinal ties take place over 2 days (similarly to the round robin stage). The final takes place on one day. In case the tie's winner is decided after 4 singles matches, the mixed doubles match will not be played.

Qualification

18 countries qualify as follows:

  • Six countries qualify based on the ATP ranking of their number one ranked singles player.
  • Six countries qualify based on the WTA ranking of their number one ranked singles player.
  • The final six countries qualify based on the combined ranking of their number one ranked ATP and WTA players.

In exchange for being the host nation, Australia is guaranteed one of the spots reserved for teams with the best combined ranking if it fails to qualify on its own.[1]

Teams feature three or four players from each tour.[5]

Venues

Brisbane, Perth and Sydney each host two groups of three countries in a round robin format and the host city finals in the first seven days of the tournament. Sydney hosts the semifinals and the final on the last four days of the tournament.

Image Name Opened Capacity Location Events Map
Pat Rafter Arena 2009 5,500 Brisbane Group stage,
Host city final
RAC Arena 2012 15,500 Perth Group stage,
Host city final
Ken Rosewall Arena 1999 10,500 Sydney Group stage,
Host city final,
Semifinals,
Final

Finals
YearChampionRunner-upScore
2023  United States  Italy 4–0

Results by nation
Country20232024Overall
RndW–LRndW–LAppW–L
 Argentina RR0–2 –– 10–2
 Australia RR1–1 RR– 21–1
 Belgium RR0–2 –– 10–2
 Bulgaria RR1–1 –– 11–1
 Brazil RR1–1 –– 11–1
 Canada –– RR– 10–0
 China –– RR– 10–0
 Croatia HF2–1 RR– 22–1
 Czech Republic RR1–1 RR– 21–1
 France RR1–1 RR– 21–1
 Germany RR0–2 RR– 20–2
 Great Britain HF2–1 RR– 22–1
 Greece SF3–1 RR– 23–1
 Italy F3–2 RR– 23–2
 Kazakhstan RR0–2 –– 10–2
 Netherlands –– RR– 10–0
 Norway RR0–2 RR– 20–2
 Poland SF3–1 RR– 23–1
 Serbia –– RR– 10–0
 Spain RR0–2 RR– 20–2
  Switzerland RR1–1 –– 11–1
 United States W5–0 RR– 25–0
  • HF = Host city final

Prize money and trophies

In 2020 ABC Bullion, a Pallion company, was awarded the rights to make the ATP Cup. The cup are produced by W.J. Sanders a sister division within Pallion and takes over 250 hours to produce.[6][7][8]

See also

References
  1. "United Cup Explained". United Cup. Tennis Australia Limited. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. "Mixed-team United Cup to open 2023 season". WTATennis.com. WTA TOUR, INC. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  3. "ATP Cup axed as Hopman Cup-like event to return to Perth". The West Australian. 2022-09-07. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  4. "New $15m mixed-sex event in Australia to kick off 2023 season". Reuters. 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  5. "New Global Team Event Unites Men & Women To Launch 2023 Tennis Season". ATPTour.com. ATP Tour, Inc. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  6. https://www.wjsanders.com/
  7. https://www.pallion.com/brands/wj-sanders/
  8. https://abcbullion.com.au/investor-centre/blog/abc-bullion-celebrates-australia-open
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.