13 November 2025 | Tennis West

Five of the world’s top 10 men and four of the world’s top 10 women are among the international tennis superstars to commit to United Cup 2026 after entries were revealed today.

From Friday 2 January to Sunday 11 January, 18 countries will feature for the fourth consecutive year, with teams seeing up to three men and up to three women join forces and compete side by side.

Two-time champions Team USA, led by world No.3 Coco Gauff and world No.6 Taylor Fritz, have been named as the top seeds in 2026, when they return to defend their title.

Six-time Grand Slam champion and world No.2 Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz lead Poland for the country’s fourth appearance.

World No.3 Alexander Zverev will spearhead Team Germany alongside newcomer Eva Lys, in pursuit of a second United Cup title.

Team Japan makes its debut at the event this summer with four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 Naomi Osaka lining up with 2019 Junior Wimbledon champion Shintaro Mochizuki.

Italy will be guided by world No.8 and 2024 Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini and rising star Flavio Cobolli.

Team Great Britain unveils a fresh line-up featuring world No.10 Jack Draper and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka will be Down Under alongside world No.11 Belinda Bencic for Team Switzerland.

Popular duo Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, both former world No.3s, are back for Greece.

World No.8 Felix Auger-Aliassime and teenage talent Victoria Mboko will represent Team Canada.

Meanwhile, home-town favourites Australia will see world No.7 Alex de Minaur and the nation’s new top-ranked woman, world No.32 Maya Joint, play in the green and gold along with Jason Kubler, Maddison Inglis, former world No.1 doubles player Storm Hunter and John-Patrick Smith.

Other standout names competing in 2026 include Czechia’s Barbora Krejcikova and teammate Jakub Mensik – the youngest player in the world’s top 20 – plus world No.12 Casper Ruud for Norway and China’s Zhizhen Zhang and Zhu Lin.

“The entry list for the United Cup this summer is world class. We’re excited to welcome five of the world’s top 10 men and four of the world’s top 10 women in 2026,” United Cup Tournament Director Stephen Farrow said.

“The United Cup holds a unique position in global tennis, with the world’s best men and women committed to play in mixed teams and showcase equality in the sport.

“We look forward to the official draw next Monday to determine where our 18 countries will play across Perth and Sydney.

“It will be fascinating to see where the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Jasmine Paolini end up competing.

“With AO 2019 and 2021 champion Naomi Osaka also leading Team Japan in its United Cup debut, the star power in 2026 is undeniable.

“Add to that Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu for Great Britain, and Stan Wawrinka and Belinda Bencic for Team Switzerland, and fans in both cities are in for an absolute treat.”

Participation is subject to players committing to the event by the tournament’s entry deadline of 11 November.

At the entry deadline, 10 countries qualify for the United Cup via the five highest-ranked men and five highest-ranked women entered, based on their PIF ATP and WTA rankings.

Eight teams qualify according to the best combined ranking of the highest-ranked men’s and women’s players from the same country.

Seeding for the event is based on the combined ranking of the top ATP and top WTA players using the ranking as of Monday 10 November.

The event’s official draw will be held on Monday 17 November.

Tickets to the United Cup group stage go on sale from 12.00pm local time Wednesday 19 November, Sydney group stage tickets from $40, Perth group stage tickets from $43.

Tickets for the United Cup quarterfinals, semifinals and final are already on sale via Ticketmaster for Sydney and Ticketek for Perth.