Daniil Medvedev will not participate at inaugural United Cup due to the tournament's ban on Russian players

Former World No.1 Daniil Medvedev will be unable to compete at the new United Cup ahead of the Australian Open in January after the tournament director confirmed that Russia and Belarus would be banned from the mixed-gender event.

Eighteen nations are set to face off with qualification based on ranking and despite Russia boasting two players in the ATP top 10 and two in the WTA top 10, they will be barred from representing their country.

A new tournament was officially announced on Thursday night following earlier reports, with the United Cup officially replacing the ATP Cup as the Australian Open warm-up event. It will become the only tournament outside of the four Majors that allows male and female players to join forces on the same team, with 18 nations battling it out in groups to qualify for the final four in Sydney.

The first 12 countries qualify based on the six highest-ranked men on the ATP Tour and six highest-ranked women on the WTA Tour, with the other six qualifying based on the combined ranking of their top male and female players. It should mean automatic entry for Russia with Medvedev sitting at No 4, but the tournament director has confirmed that all players from the nation are banned from competing.

“If you're doing a national team competition when players obviously are playing for that flag and for that national pride,” Stephen Farrow said. “All we're doing is taking the same position that the whole of the sport has taken.”

In early March, the ATP, WTA, ITF and four Grand Slams released a joint statement confirming that Russia and Belarus were banned from all team competitions in the wake of the war in Ukraine, while players from those nations have since competed as neutrals without any mention of their flag and country - and the United Cup will be no exception.

Players from Russia and Belarus will have to compete at regular ATP and WTA events during the same time period as neutrals. There is set to be one ATP 250 in Australia in January as well as another in Pune, India during the week of the United Cup.

There should be more opportunities for WTA players on the week of January 2, with a 500-point event in Adelaide and a 250-point event in Auckland. The United Cup will begin on December 29 with the final four facing off in Sydney from January 6 to 8.

The draw for the inaugural United Cup will be held on November 10, using the rankings set on November 7. With Russia banned, it will give players ranked below Medvedev a boost to qualify for their country.