Jaume Munar will compete against Sebastian Baez in the men’s singles, while Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro will play against Solana Sierra in the women’s singles as Spain begins their campaign against Argentina in the United Cup mixed team tennis competition in Perth. The four players will also participate in a mixed doubles match if needed to determine the match’s outcome.
In another matchup, Greece will take on Japan with Maria Sakkari facing Naomi Osaka, and Stefanos Tsitsipas playing against Shintaro Mochizuki in the men’s singles on the same court. The United Cup, hosted by Tennis Australia, is in its fourth edition and is played on international hard courts in Perth and Sydney.
The tournament features 18 national teams, each consisting of up to three women’s and three men’s players. These teams will compete in a group stage followed by a knockout format. Matches in Perth will be held at RAC Arena, while those in Sydney will take place at Ken Rosewall Arena.
For the group stage, the 18 teams have been divided into six groups of three in a round-robin format. Groups A, C, and E will compete in Perth, while groups B, D, and F will play in Sydney. The winners of each group and the best runner-up in each city will advance to the quarterfinals.
Perth will host two quarterfinals on January 7, with the winners moving to Sydney for the semifinals and final. Teams relocating from Perth will have a travel and rest day on January 8-9. The Sydney quarterfinals are scheduled for January 8-9, followed by the semifinals on January 10 and the final on January 11.
Each session of the tournament will include a men’s singles match, a women’s singles match, and a mixed doubles match. The singles matches will feature each country’s top-ranked players and will be played as best-of-three tiebreak sets. The mixed doubles match may include any combination of players and will consist of two tiebreak sets, followed by a deciding 10-point match-tiebreak if necessary.
