By Nick Mulvenney
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Top seeds the United States will face neighbours Canada in the group stage when Coco Gauff makes her debut in the third edition of the United Cup mixed team tournament in Sydney and Perth at the start of next season.
World number three Gauff will be joined in the U.S. team by Taylor Fritz, Denis Kudla, Robert Galloway, Desirae Krawczyk and Danielle Collins, who recently backtracked on her decision to retire at the end of the 2024 season.
At Monday’s draw, the Americans were also pitted against an as yet undecided nation in Group A, which will be played out in Perth.
The 17th and 18th teams will be decided based on the rankings of Nov. 19, but organisers confirmed that Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has decided not to make the tournament part of his preparations for a tilt at an 11th Australian Open title.
Reigning champions Germany, who will be spearheaded by world number three Alexander Zverev, face China, who feature Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, and Brazil in Group E, also in Perth.
Zverev looks set to be the highest ranked man in the tournament in the absence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, while world number five Daniil Medvedev’s Russia remains barred by sanctions put in place after the invasion of Ukraine.
Belarus is excluded for the same reason so Australian and U.S. Open winner Aryna Sabalenka will be absent, but five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek headlines a strong Polish team also featuring Hubert Hurkacz.
The Poles, runners-up last year, will play their Group B matches against the Czech Republic and Norway in Sydney.
“I think this year’s entry list is probably the strongest overall that we’ve seen in the three years of the competition,” said tournament director Stephen Farrow.
“We’ve got six of the seven of the top 10 players in the world on the women’s side, six of the top 12 on the men’s side. And it is going to be an absolutely brilliant competition.”
Hosts Australia, spearheaded by Alex de Minaur, will play their Group F matches in Sydney against Britain and the other as yet undecided nation.
The tournament starts on Dec. 27 with the final in Sydney on Jan. 5.
Draw:
Group A – US, Canada, To Be Decided
Group B – Poland, Czech Republic, Norway
Group C – Greece, Kazakhstan, Spain
Group D – Italy, France, Switzerland
Group E – China, Germany, Brazil
Group F – Britain, Australia, To Be Decided
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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