The
deadline for confirming the tennis players who will participate in the 2024
United Cup is approaching, and the top players set to ignite the tournament
have been confirmed.
The United
Cup was created to replace the ATP Cup (2020 – 2022), although this is a
mixed-gender tournament played among 18 nations with their best male and female
tennis players.
The
tournament is scheduled to begin on December 29 and will take place in three
different cities over 11 days, offering a maximum of 500 points to the
participating tennis players.
Several
top-10 players had already been confirmed, including North Americans Jessica
Pegula and Taylor Fritz, Greek stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari,
along with Alexander Zverev, Leylah Fernandez, Borna Coric, and Felix
Auger-Aliassime.
The
tournament will also mark the return to the courts of two players who are
making comebacks after becoming mothers: Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka.
Now, a new
list has been revealed with other tennis players joining the tournament. A
standout addition is the world No. 2, Iga Swiatek, who will team up with Peter
Luczak and doubles specialist Jan Zielinski.
The Chinese
team has also confirmed a formidable pair with Zhang Zhizhen and the recent
champion of the WTA 500 China Open, Qinwen Zheng. The Czechs, who had
previously confirmed Jiri Lehecka, are now joined by the reigning Wimbledon
champion, Marketa Vondrousova.
The Spanish
team features Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Sara Sorribes Tormo, with the
confirmation of the presence of Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, or Paula Badosa
still pending.
Other
notable teams include Dan Evans and Katie Boulter representing the United
Kingdom, while France will be led by Adrian Mannarino and Varvara Gracheva.
As of now,
there shouldn't be any major surprises beyond the already confirmed tennis
players, as the deadline for player confirmations is set for October 17th. In
the previous edition of the tournament, the United States team emerged
victorious by defeating Italy in the final, with Poland and Greece being the
other semifinalists.