United Cup 2023: Rafael Nadal to headline new ATP-WTA teams competition in Australia

Two Australian tennis greats believe Nick Kyrgios is much closer to breakthrough Grand Slam win than many expect and an early summer clash with Rafael Nadal could confirm that belief.

Rafael Nadal bites the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup as he celebrates victory in the Australian Open final against Daniil Medvedev. Picture: Getty Images

8 min read

5:39PMNovember 10, 2022.

Updated 6:53PMNovember 10, 2022

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Tennis legend Todd Woodbridge says a new-found ability to handle pressure has made Nick Kyrgios a serious contender for a breakthrough Grand Slam win at the upcoming Australian Open.

Kyrgios will get an early guide on his formline before heading to Melbourne Park too with a likely blockbuster clash with Rafael Nadal in Sydney as part of the inaugural $23 million United Cup team event.

The new format will feature matches in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from December 29 and Australia has been drawn in the same pool as Spain, who Nadal, the defending Australian Open champion, will represent.

Alex de Minaur and Jason Kubler were the other men‘s singles players named in Australia’s eight-strong line-up but Kyrgios, who locked himself in to lead the the Aussie charge, will get first crack at Nadal after securing Australia‘s year-end top ranking.

The Aussies team, which also includes Ajla Tomljanovic, will be based in Sydney where they have been drawn in group D against Spain and Great Britain.

Nick Kyrgios shakes hands with Spain's Rafael Nadal after the Australian won their men's singles fourth round match at Wimbledon in 2014.

Kyrgios is currently ranked 22nd in the world following a breakout 2022 campaign that saw him reach the Wimbledon decider before he backed it up with a deep run at the US Open where he lost in the quarters.

The 27-year-old would have played Nadal in the semis at Wimbledon but his Spanish opponent withdrew due to injury which presented a clear path to take on Novak Djokovic.

The dream match-up with Nadal could come in Sydney in just a few weeks before Kyrgios seeks to become the first Aussie male to win the Australian Open since Mark Edmonson in 1976.

“I know we’d all love that, and I know he’d love that,” Woodbridge told the NCA NewsWire on Thursday.

“The thing about it is that we don’t need to pressure it. He’s learning to speak positively about dealing with pressure now, which I really like.

“Years ago, you’d hear him say ‘I don’t care’, whereas now the chat is about what he’s doing to prepare and that he knows what he has to do to win matches.

“He seems to understand his mood better which is allowing him to play better in bigger matches.

Nick Kyrgios will lead the the Aussie charge in the new United Cup format.

“In 12 months, he’s come on enormously. If he can maintain the ability to keep himself fresh and not put too much expectation and pressure on himself, then he’s certainly a contender to go well at the Australian Open.”

Former Australian Open semi-finalist Wally Masur says Kyrgios has come a long way and that his performance at Wimbledon won him over with the Australian public.

“Nick is a big personality and we were ready for him after Wimbledon,” Masur said.

“The quality of tennis was outstanding and then he backed it up in the US summer beating Daniil Medvedev twice.

“Nick showed us the brilliance that he has on court.

“He was knocking on the door against Djokovic at Wimbledon. Nick tends to look at things internally, but if he’d looked externally then he would have seen a very worried opponent at the other end of the court. He’s so close.”

It’ll be a tough group in Sydney with Spain bringing out the big guns for the newly-formed United Cup.

The legendary Nadal will team up with world No.13 Paula Badosa to fly the flag for Spain, with other notable players including Norway’s world No.4 Casper Ruud, Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Stan Wawrinka, along with Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

For Australia, Tomljanovic will head into the United Cup full of confidence after reaching the final eight at Wimbledon and the US Open, and it’s why many people consider her a big chance of going all the way next year.

“She’s disciplined and works hard on her fitness, and what’s coming now is the confidence of knowing she can do it after a few quarter-finals at the big events,” Masur said.

“What comes with those wins over the top players is belief. If you look at the women’s draw, Iga has created a bit of a gap on clay and on hard courts. But you can throw a blanket over a lot of players after that, and Ajla is definitely in that mix.”

Brisbane, Perth and Sydney will each host two groups of three countries competing in a round-robin format from December 29 to January 4. Each tie comprises two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match.

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

Novak Djokovic during a stint in Brisbane.

United Cup leaves Brisbane International in rearview mirror

- Emma Greenwood

The Brisbane International has been shelved for the foreseeable future with Tennis Australia putting its faith in the United Cup as the summer launchpad for the next decade.

Brisbane will host group stages of the newest event on the tennis calendar — a joint venture from the ATP, WTA and Australian Open that will bring the top men’s and women’s players in the world together in a mixed teams event for significant rankings points and $AUD23m in prizemoney.

Pat Rafter Arena will be home to women’s world no.1 Iga Swiatek and team Poland, as well as a Swiss team featuring three-time grand slam singles champion Stan Wawrinka, Casper Ruud’s Norway and team Italy, which includes Matteo Berrettini.

The tournament marks the return of international tennis to the city after a four-year hiatus due to Covid.

But gone are the days of Brisbane being the focus of the tennis world.

Where the Brisbane International boasted champions such as Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams, Kim Klijsters and Karolina Pliskova launching their Australian Open campaigns, the United Cup will see stars but only in the early stages of the tournament, with Sydney hosting the semis and final.

United Cup Brisbane general manager Cameron Pearson was thrilled at the calibre of players heading to the city.

“I think we should be excited for a number of reasons,” Pearson said.

“We’re going to see new players … that we haven’t seen in Brisbane before we’re going to see here which is incredibly exciting.”

But it is likely to mean the end of the Brisbane International.

“The United Cup is our new event for Australia,” Pearson said.

“It’s obviously bringing the men and the women together. So the Brisbane International right now is sitting on the shelf while we play the United Cup and we think this is going to be the event for Australia for the next decade or two.

Now retired Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was another global star to make Brisbane an early base during Australia’s summer of tennis.

“It’s going to start the global tennis season every year — men and women on the same team and the players especially, are really thrilled to be part of this.”

Sydney, Brisbane and Perth are locked in as hosts for the next three years but Tennis Australia expects the United Cup to remain a multi-city event for at least a decade.

Perth, Sydney and Brisbane will host group matches in the December 29-January 8 tournament, with the semi-finals and decider to be held at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.

And while international tennis will return to Queensland and Western Australia for the first time since 2019, the NSW capital was the undeniable winner in the draw, set to host Spain, Australia, Germany and the US in the group stages, snaring world no.2 and fan favourite Rafael Nadal and a head-to-head match-up with Nick Kyrgios, who will turn out for Australia.

The German side will include US Open finalist Alex Zverev and early United Cup favourites USA, who will field a team boasting women’s world no.3 Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys (11), Taylor Fritz (3) and Frances Tiafoe (11).

While next week’s ATP finals mark the official end of the season, the December schedule is already littered with big money events that had the potential to threaten the early arrival of players in Australia.

But Pearson believes the United Cup’s unique format - with ranking points on the line in a mixed teams format that has piqued the interest of players - will draw the big guns south ahead of the first grand slam of the year.

“The strong thing about this event is that the tours are behind it - the ATP and the WTA,” Pearson said.

“So there’s ranking points, and (players’) rankings will move depending on how well they play.

“(The other December events) are exhibitions so they’re going there to play but they’re not getting any ranking points.

“ And it is really important the ranking points, because at the end of the United Cup the seedings are done for the Australian Open so if you can move your ranking and move into a better seed, that’s a real advantage come Melbourne.”

Aussie Rafa: Nadal’s Down Under move to spark Open defence

Rafael Nadal will kick off his Australian Open title defence headlining the United Cup in a move that is likely to make the new teams competition the hottest ticket in town.

Women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek will also open her 2023 campaign at the United Cup, alongside several other top 10 players including Jessica Pegula (3), Caroline Garcia (4) and Maria Sakkari (6).

Greece has earnt the top seeding with Sakkari to join forces with world no.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Taylor Fritz (9), and Hubert Hurkacz (11) the top men among the leading teams.

Exactly where in Australia Nadal and co will play remains a mystery until the draw on Thursday, with matches in the joint ATP-WTA event held in partnership with Tennis Australia to be held in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth from December 29-January 8.

Rafael Nadal bites the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup as he celebrates victory in the Australian Open final against Daniil Medvedev. Picture: Getty Images

Nadal kickstarted his remarkable career revival in Australia last year, winning his 21st grand slam singles title before adding a record 22nd crown at the French Open.

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Currently world no.2, Nadal can leapfrog countryman Nadal can leapfrog injured countryman Carlos Alcaraz into the year-ending top spot if he wins the ATP finals starting next week.

The United Cup will feature mixed teams from 18 countries, with each tie comprising two men’s and two women’s singles matches and a mixed doubles contest.

Each team will include up to four men and four women.

Preliminary rounds will be held at Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena, Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney and RAC Arena in Perth from December 29-January 4, with semis and finals to be held in Sydney.

Iga Swiatek of Poland poses with the Chris Evert WTA Year-End World No.1 trophy. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

With the seeds determined by the combined ranking of the top man and woman entered from each country, world no.2 Nadal, alongside Paula Badosa (13), pushes Spain into fourth behind Greece, Poland and the USA and ahead of Italy and France in the top six.

Australia is guaranteed a spot either through ranking or via a wildcard, with Nick Kyrgios expected to play after voicing support for the event last month.

The full list of teams playing for $15 million in prize money and 500 ATP and WTA rankings points, will be released ahead of the draw on Thursday.