Agnieszka Radwanska, Tim Henman and Gisela Dulko are among the high-profile names to join an all-star line-up of past and current tennis champions to captain teams at the inaugural United Cup.
The United Cup is a new annual mixed team event, played across three Australian cities - Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, set to launch the global tennis season from Thursday 29 December.
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In Brisbane, 2012 Wimbledon finalist and former world No.2 Radwanska will captain Team Poland in Group B, led by world No.1 Iga Swiatek and world No.10 Hubert Hurkacz.
In Perth, former world No.1 doubles player and Australian Open 2011 doubles champion Dulko will lead Team Argentina, who are drawn against Croatia and France in Group F.
Former world No.4 and Roland Garros champion Iva Majoli will captain Croatia, with players Borna Coric and Donna Vekic to fly the flag for their country.
In Sydney, Tim Henman, who inspired a British tennis revival in the 1990s by becoming the first local player to reach the men’s semifinals at Wimbledon in 25 years, will captain Team Great Britain, which includes world No.14 Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Harriet Dart.
Former world No.3 doubles and 2016 French Open doubles champion Marc Lopez will oversee Spain, a team featuring world No.2 Rafael Nadal and world No.14 Paula Badosa.
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Home favourites Australia will also be in Sydney, and will be captained by former world No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt and former world No.4 and multiple Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur in Group D.
Stosur is one of several high-profile “playing captains” to feature at the United Cup.
Others include Stan Wawrinka as captain of Team Switzerland, and Alexander Bublik overseeing Kazakhstan in the same group in Brisbane.
Current world No.28 Grigor Dimitrov will captain Bulgaria while Kirsten Flipkens will captain Belgium and Grand Slam doubles champion Edouard Roger-Vasselin will captain France.
United Cup 2023 team captains
|
HOST CITY |
GROUP |
COUNTRY |
CAPTAIN |
|
BRISBANE |
B |
Poland |
Agnieszka Radwanska and Dawid Celt |
|
Switzerland |
Stan Wawrinka |
||
|
Kazakhstan |
Alexander Bublik |
||
|
E |
Italy |
Vincenzo Santopadre |
|
|
Brazil |
Rafael Pacharoni |
||
|
Norway |
Christian Ruud |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
SYDNEY |
C |
United States |
David Witt |
|
Germany |
Mischa Zverev |
||
|
Czech Republic |
Jiri Vanek |
||
|
D |
Spain |
Marc Lopez |
|
|
Australia |
Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur |
||
|
Great Britain |
Tim Henman |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
PERTH |
A |
Greece |
To be confirmed |
|
Belgium |
Kirsten Flipkens |
||
|
Bulgaria |
Grigor Dimitrov |
||
|
F |
France |
Edouard |
|
|
Croatia |
Iva Majoli |
||
|
Argentina |
Gisela Dulko |
Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, RAC Arena in Perth and Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney will host the United Cup group stage from Thursday 29 December to Wednesday 4 January 2023.
Each host city will feature two groups of three countries, competing in a round-robin format.
Each tie will comprise two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match to be played across two days.
Group winners in each city will play off for one of three semifinal spots.
Three City Champions will advance to the United Cup Final Four in Sydney to be played at Ken Rosewall Arena from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 January. The next best performing team from the group stage will complete the quartet.
Group stage tickets for adults start from $40 and from $20 for children 14 years and under. Family passes (two adults and two children) start from $100.
The United Cup, an ATP-WTA event presented in partnership with Tennis Australia, offers USD $15 million in prize money as well as up to 500 Pepperstone ATP and 500 WTA rankings points.
Visit UnitedCup.com/tickets to purchase tickets and follow @UnitedCupTennis on social media for all the latest tournament news.