Swiatek, Gauff, Fritz, Tsitsipas and Paolini headline 2025 United Cup

• Seven of the world’s top 10 women and six of the world’s top 12 men will star at the United Cup in 2025.
• Official draw on Monday, Oct. 21.
• Group stage tickets on sale from 5 p.m. local time Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Tennis superstars Alex de Minaur, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jasmine Paolini and more will headline the third edition of the United Cup.

The exciting mixed team event will be staged in Perth and Sydney from Dec. 27 to Jan. 5, 2025.

Seven of the world’s top 10 women and six of the top 12 men have committed to the tournament after entries from the top 16 countries were revealed.

The tournament will also feature an exciting crop of next-generation tennis stars, including Jack Draper, Tomas Machac, Flavio Cobolli and rising star Olivia Gadecki, Australia’s new No. 1 woman.

Team USA, led by 2023 U.S. Open champion and World No. 3 Gauff and World No. 6 Fritz, who was a finalist at the U.S. Open, has been named as the top seed for the 2025 event.

Gauff, 20, who was the flag bearer for the United States at the Olympic Games in Paris, will make her United Cup debut.

Five-time Grand Slam champion and World No. 1 Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz will return for Team Poland as the No. 2 seeds.

Popular duo Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, both former world No. 3s, will represent the third seeds, Greece.

Italy, the No. 4 seeds, will be guided by Paolini -- this year’s Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist -- and Cobolli.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games singles gold medalist Zheng Qinwen and Zhang Zhizhen will headline the Chinese team.

Great Britain, led by debutant Jack Draper and Katie Boulter, will complete the top six seeded countries.

Australia will be represented by De Minaur, Gadecki, Omar Jasika, Destanee Aiava, and doubles stars, Olympic doubles gold medalist and World No. 7 Matt Ebden and World No. 13 Ellen Perez.

“I’m very excited to play; it’s going to be a lot of fun. I had some good memories this year; that’s where I cracked the top 10 for the very first time. Any chance you get to represent Australia is always a lot of fun,” De Minaur said.

“It’s something quite unique [the United Cup]. You don’t do it too often; you have two singles and a mixed doubles. It’s something completely different for the fans -- a lot of fun to watch and to be a part of -- and I’m looking forward to competing.

“The Aussie team energy is always great. We support each other; we have each other’s backs. We are just there for each other. The bench is always quite loud and vocal, and I think it brings the best out of Aussie athletes, just being in a team environment.”

Other standout entries include defending champions Team Germany, represented by World No. 3 Zverev and Laura Siegemund, who led their country to victory in the decisive mixed doubles match in 2024.

Top 10 stars include Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, Norway’s Casper Ruud, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who returns to professional tennis after celebrating the birth of her daughter.

“It is fantastic to see seven of the world’s top 10 women and six of the world’s top 12 men enter the United Cup in 2025, in what will be a thrilling start to the Australian summer of tennis in Perth and Sydney,” United Cup Tournament Director Stephen Farrow said.

“The United Cup holds a unique position in global tennis, with the world’s best men and women representing their country at the highest level.

“The top 16 teams include some of the sport’s global tennis stars, such as Swiatek, Gauff, Zverev, Fritz, Tsitsipas, Paolini, Australia’s very own Alex de Minaur, and many more who have all committed to play in this mixed team format to showcase the unique equality of tennis.

“We look forward to the official draw next Monday to determine where each country will play across Perth and Sydney.”

The official draw will be held on Monday, Oct. 21. Countries will be drawn into six groups of three countries.

Watch the draw live from 11:30 a.m. AEDT on the United Cup Facebook page.

The tournament schedule will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 22, with tickets to the United Cup group stage on sale from 5 p.m. local time in each host city.

Adult prices start from $40, and from $20 for children aged 3-12. Family passes (two adults and two children) start from $100.

Format and Qualification

• The third edition of the United Cup will be held from Friday, Dec. 27, to Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025.
• The group stage in Perth (RAC Arena) runs from Friday, Dec. 27, to Tuesday, Dec. 31. The quarterfinals in Perth will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day).
• The group stage in Sydney (Ken Rosewall Arena) runs from Saturday, Dec. 28, to Wednesday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day). The quarterfinals in Sydney will be held on Thursday, Jan. 2, and Friday, Jan. 3.
• Sydney will host two semifinals on Saturday, Jan. 4, followed by the United Cup final at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5.
• Teams traveling from Perth to Sydney will have a travel day and rest day before their semifinal matches.
• At the entry deadline on Oct. 16, ten countries qualified for the United Cup via the five highest-ranked men and five highest-ranked women entered, based on their ATP and WTA rankings.
• Eight teams qualify according to the best combined ranking of the highest-ranked men’s and women’s players from the same country.
• New for 2025: at the second qualification date, if there is a player in the Top 10 (maximum 1 ATP and 1 WTA player) of the latest ATP or WTA rankings who has entered and has an eligible team but has not been accepted based on their individual ranking, they will be accepted, and their team will replace the lowest-ranked team based on combined ranking.
• Australia is guaranteed entry, either directly via ranking or as a wild card.
• Seedings are based on the combined ranking of the No. 1 ATP and No. 1 WTA players.
• Each city will host nine teams -- three groups of three countries, competing in a round-robin format.
• Each tie will comprise one men’s singles and one women’s singles match featuring the No. 1 ranked singles players, and one mixed doubles match.
• Singles matches are best of three tie-break sets. Mixed doubles matches are two tiebreak sets with a deciding match tie-break (10-point) at one set all.
• Group winners in each city advance to the quarterfinals, with one quarterfinal spot in each city awarded to the best runner-up in that city.
• Winners will progress to the semifinals and final to be played in Sydney.
• The United Cup official draw determines where the top 16 countries will play. The second qualification date of Nov. 19 will determine the final two teams.

Schedule and Tickets

• The tournament schedule will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
• Tickets for the United Cup quarterfinals in Perth are on sale via Ticketek.
• Tickets for the United Cup quarterfinals, semifinals, and final in Sydney are on sale via Ticketmaster.
• Tickets for the United Cup group stage go on sale Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. local time in each host city.

Follow @UnitedCupTennis on social media for the latest tournament news.

Country-by-country breakdown 

P= Protected ranking, J= Junior ranking, *= Doubles ranking