United States Favored To Repeat As United Cup Champions
No. 1 Ranked Djokovic and Swiatek Among The Heavy Hitters Playing in the United Cup
Pegula and Fritz Return As the United States Looks To Repeat As United Cup Champs
Before the Grand Slam events get going again, another event could attract some interest from those who bet online. The 2024 United Cup features teams consisting of ATP and WTA players.
What separates this event is that it is the first mixed-gender team event to offer ranking points to players from both the ATP and WTA. Nine teams have been sent to Perth, and the other nine are in Sydney, Australia.
Groups A, C, and E will be played in Perth.
Brazil, Poland, and Spain are in Group A. Host Australia is joined by Great Britain and the United States in Group C, and in Group E, it will be China, Czech Republic, and Serbia.
As for the Sydney portion of the draw, Canada, Chile, and Greece are in Group B, in Group D it is France, Germany, and Italy while Croatia, Netherlands, and Norway are the teams in Group F.
The tournament begins on Dec. 29 at RAC Arena in Perth, with the championship match scheduled for Jan. 7 at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney. The matches will be televised on the Tennis Channel in North America.
Here’s what to look for in the United Cup, with some of the scores and odds to consider.
Who’s Playing in the United Cup?
There is plenty of star power in this event.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic (Serbia), No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece), No. 7 Alexander Zverev (Germany), No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz (Poland), and No. 10 Taylor Fritz (United States) are the players in the top 10 in the ATP rankings scheduled to play in the 2024 United Cup.
On the women’s side, No. 1 Iga Swiatek (Poland), No. 5 Pegula (United States), N. 7 Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic), No. 9 Maria Sakkari (Greece), No. 11 Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil) and No. 20 Caroline Garcia (France) are the top competitors.
Ranking points will be rewarded based on the tennis rankings of the opponent that a player beats.
A win over a player ranked in the top 10 in the group stage will result in 55 ranking points. The number jumps to 80 in the quarterfinals, 130 in the semifinals, and 180 in the championship match.
A Look At the Schedule
The tournament begins on Friday with two ties in Perth when Spain meets Brazil, followed by the Great Britain-Australia match.
On Dec. 30 in Perth, it will be the Czech Republic meeting China and then Poland meeting Brazil. In Sydney, the Netherlands faces Norway, and then Italy meets Germany.
The U.S. will meet Great Britain on Dec. 31 and Australia on Jan. 1. Round-robin play wraps up on Jan. 2 in Perth and on Jan. 3 in Sydney. The winners from the six groups, as well as the top second-place finisher at each site, advance to the quarterfinals.
The winners of the quarterfinals move onto the Jan. 6 semifinals, both held in Sydney.
The title match is set for Jan. 7.
A Look At the Odds
When it comes to some tennis tips, let’s take a look at some of the early matches in the United Cup.
Alejandro Davidovich (-333) is favored to beat Thiago Seyboth Wild, Alex de Minaur (-208) meets Cameron Norrie with Casper Ruud (-161) favored versus Tallon Griekspoor.
In the women’s matches, Beatriz Haddad Maia (-250) squares off against Sara Sorribes Tormo (+175), the Marketa Vondrousova-Qinwen Zheng has both players with -120 odds to win the match, while Ajla Tonljanovic (-152) is the favorite against Katie Boulter.
The Team To Beat
The United States is currently listed as the front-runner according to the tennis betting lines.
While the U.S. has +400 odds to win it all, Poland isn’t far behind at +450. Greece at +650, France (+700), and Serbia (+800) are the other top contenders in the 2024 United Cup.
Six countries will qualify based on the ATP ranking of their No. 1 player, and six countries are invited as a result of the WTA ranking of their top player.
Australia automatically qualified as the host country, with six teams getting into the field based on the combined ranking of their No. 1 ATP and WTA players.
Every tie in the round-robin portion of the tournament will include one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match, and a mixed doubles match.
A Look Back
In the 2024 United Cup, Greece (Group A), Poland (Group B), the United States (Group C), Great Britain (Group D), Italy (Group E) and Croatia (Group F) all won their groups without losing a match.
The United States topped Poland 5-0 in one semifinal, with Italy topping Greece 4-1 in the other semifinal.
In the championship match of the inaugural United Cup, Jessica Pegula defeated Martina Trevisan, Frances Tiafoe was leading 6-2 when Lorenzo Musetti retired, Taylor Fritz topped Matteo Berrettini in a pair of tiebreakers with Madison Keys wrapping up singles play with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lucia Bronzetti.
The doubles match featuring Pegula and Fritz for the United States and the Italian duo of Trevisan and Berrettini was not played, as the U.S. won 4-0.
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