By Tony Fairbairn
- Katie Boulter leads the line-up for Great Britain as they aim to improve on their group stage exit from last year
- Great Britain head to Sydney to take on Australia and Argentina in Group F
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Great Britain will take on Australia in Group F of the United Cup with Katie Boulter leading the British charge.
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After an incredible 2024 season, the new season is upon us with barely a month in between as British success looks to be replicated in 2025. After a year full of milestones and the retirement of Britain’s best ever tennis player in the form of Andy Murray. Now new names are aiming to make a breakthrough in 2025 with more players in the top 150 in the world ahead of another unpredictable year.
However we have the third edition of the United Cup to get through which will once again be hosted in Australia. There are six groups with matches being hosted in Perth and Sydney with the latter playing host to the semi-finals and final. Now let’s explore the format and see which teams are looking to dethrone Germany as champions.
The Format
Just like last year, 18 teams will compete in this year’s United Cup with the 18 teams being split into six groups of three. The matches will take place in two cities as Perth and Sydney will host the group stages with Sydney also hosting the semi-finals and final.
Just like last year, each tie will have only one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match and will conclude with a mixed doubles match. The team to win two of the three rubbers wins the tie.
Every team in the competition has been allowed to nominate up to six players, therefore giving each member of their team a fair chance of participating. The winners of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the best runner-up from each city being awarded a place in the last eight.
Then it’s a knockout stage tournament to see who will be crowned the 2024 United Cup champions. Last year Germany defeated Poland 2-1 to claim their first United Cup title.
When is the tournament?
The group stages start on Friday 27th of December and will finish on Wednesday the first of January. On the same day as the group stages finish, the quarter-finals in Perth will take place while the Sydney quarter-finals commence on the Thursday and Friday. The semi-finals will then take place on Saturday the fourth of January while the final will take place on the Sunday.
Who is representing Great Britain?
As mentioned before, each team can choose up to six players to represent their country which will include three male players and three female players. Headlining the ATP side was supposed to be Jack Draper, who enters 2025 in sensational form having reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open as well as winning his maiden ATP 500 title in Vienna. However the British number one has withdrawn due to a hip niggle Billy Harris will now lead the team and will be joined by Charles Broom.
Meanwhile on the WTA side, Katie Boulter will once again lead the team as she looks to capitalize on her rankings rise that she had in 2024. Joining Boulter will be Yuriko Lily Miyazaki and Olivia Nicholls. Captaining the team this year is former tennis player now turned tennis coach Alex Ward with this being his first year captaining the team.
Great Britain’s group stage opponents
Great Britain’s two group stage opponents are hosts Australia and Argentina. The British team will play Argentina first with that match taking place on Monday 30th of December in Sydney. Argentina have selected a strong line-up with Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Nadia Podoroska headlining their team. Joining them are Thiago Agustin Tirante, Guido Andreozzi and Maria Lourdes Carle.
Following that match, Britain will take on Australia on Wednesday first of January. The British team defeated the Australians last year and will look to do the same again this year with Alex De Minaur leading the hosts. They will be joined by Omar Jasika, Matthew Ebden, Olivia Gadecki, Destanee Aiava and Ellen Perez.
Britain’s first match will take place at 11:30pm on the evening of Sunday 29th of December while the match against Australia will take place at 6:30am in the morning on New Year’s Day.
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The other groups
Should Great Britain win their group then they will face the winner of Group D in the last quarter-final of the tournament with Italy, France and Switzerland competing in that group. The other group playing in Sydney is Group B which includes last year’s runners-up Poland and they are joined by the Czech Republic and Norway with Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz looking for revenge from last year’s final.
Meanwhile in Perth Germany will begin their title defence in Group E against Brazil before facing China. The winner of Group E will play the winner of Group C which includes Spain, Greece and Kazakhstan. The other group will see Canada, Croatia and USA battle each other in Group A.
Group Stage Schedule
Here is the entire group stage schedule with Great Britain’s first match beginning at 23:30 GMT time against Australia on Sunday 29th of December:
Friday 27th December
02:00: Kazakhstan v Spain
09:00: China v Brazil
23:30: France v Switzerland
Saturday 28th December
02:00: Canada v Croatia
06:30: Australia v Argentina
09:00: Greece v Spain
23:30: Czech Republic v Norway
Sunday 29th December
02:00: Germany v Brazil
06:30: Italy v Switzerland
09:00: USA v Canada
23:30: Great Britain v Argentina
Monday 30th December
02:00: Greece v Kazakhstan
06:30: Poland v Norway
09:00: China v Germany
23:30: Italy v France
Tuesday 31st December
02:00: USA v Croatia
23:30: Poland v Czech Republic
Wednesday 1st January
02:00: Winner of Group C v Winner of Group E (QF1)
06:30: Great Britain v Australia
09:00: Winner of Group A v Best Runner-Up (QF2)
Thursday 2nd January
06:30: Winner of Group B v Best Runner-Up (QF3)
Friday 3rd January
06:30: Winner of Group D v Winner of Group F (QF4)
23:30: Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF3
Saturday 4th January
06:30: Winner of QF2 v Winner of QF4
Sunday 5th January
06:30: Final
How to Watch/Follow United Cup 2024
Live Stream | TennisTV <- Subscription Required |
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