United Cup 2025: Top tennis stars to kickstart season
What's the story
The United Cup 2025, a prestigious nation-based tennis competition, will kick off on December 27. This year's tournament will see four of the top six players from the WTA Tour, including world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 6 Elena Rybakina. The event will be held in two Australian cities - Sydney and Perth - starting the Australian swing leading to the year's first Grand Slam at the Australian Open.
Tournament specifics
United Cup 2025: A look at the tournament details
The United Cup is a mixed-team competition with 18 teams. The tournament will be played over 10 days, beginning December 27. Perth's RAC Arena will host the first day of the United Cup, with group stage matches starting in Sydney from December 28. Sydney matches will be played on outdoor hard courts, while Perth will have an indoor hard court setting. Both venues will use Dunlop Australian Open balls for uniformity across matches.
Competition structure
United Cup 2025: Understanding the competition format
The competition format of United Cup will see each city hosting three groups of three countries (total nine teams). The matches will be played in a round-robin format and feature one men's singles, one women's singles, and one mixed doubles match. Singles will be played on a best-of-three tiebreak sets rule while mixed doubles will have two tiebreak sets with a deciding match tiebreak (10 points) at one set-all.
Road to victory
United Cup 2025: Journey to the finals
In each city, the group winner and best runner-up will move to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will move to the semifinals and finals, both of which will be hosted in Sydney. Teams moving from Perth will be given a travel day and rest day on January 2 and 3. The semi-finals will be held on Saturday, January 4 with the final on Sunday, January 5.
Tournament history
United Cup 2025: Group distribution and past champions
The tournament's groups were drawn in October. While Perth will host Group A, C, and E, Sydney will accommodate Group D, B, and F. The first United Cup in 2023 was won by the United States team led by Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz. The next year, Germany clinched victory after saving match points in the final against Poland 2-1.
Rewards
United Cup 2025: Prize money and ranking points
The total prize money for the United Cup is at least $10,250,000, split evenly between the ATP and WTA. Individual prize money will be decided according to ranking, match wins, and team victories. No points will be awarded for mixed doubles matches. A player can earn up to 500 points for the week depending on their ranking.
Information
3rd edition of the United Cup
The 2025 United Cup is the tournament's 3rd edition. In 2023, United States beat Italy 4-0 in the final. In 2024, Germany defeated Poland 2-1 in the final to win the tourney.