Will a summer of tennis ever be the same without the excellence of Ash Barty to tune into on stifling January nights?
Perhaps not. It will be hard to top the forehand winner that broke a 44-year title drought for Australian tennis last summer, or Barty’s uninhibited roar of satisfaction in its immediate aftermath.
But the United Cup, an amped-up Hopman Cup-style mixed team tour event with a US$15 million prizemoney pool, will soften the landing for tennis fans looking to plug a hole in their hearts and television schedules this year.
That’s the view of Barty’s close friend Casey Dellacqua, who launched the 18-team, three-city tournament in Perth on Tuesday and predicted a strong start for the newcomer to the WTA and ATP circuits.
“Not only do players get to play for their nations and with each other, it’s for $15m in prizemoney and, most importantly for the players, it’s for rankings points,” Dellacqua said.
“That’s why we’ve got such a great field, the players enter the event off their own rankings and we’ve got massive names in all of the cities. I did some numbers in my head, there’ll be a combined 31 grand slam singles titles and 24 grand slam doubles titles in the field, as well as four of the current top 10 men in the world and four of the current top 10 women in the world.”
‘The next generation’: Casey Dellacqua said the new United Cup tournament would reinvigorate the Australian tennis season after Ash Barty’s retirement.Credit:Getty
Three of the world’s top 10 men and women will kick things off in Perth next week, with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari playing for top seeds Greece against sixth seeds France, who boast Caroline Garcia and Arthur Rinderknech.
In Brisbane, women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek will headline second seeds Poland at Pat Rafter Arena, with Matteo Berrettini and Martina Trevisan turning out for Italy.
Australia are playing in Sydney, with Nick Kyrgios, Ajla Tomljanovich and Alex De Minaur captained by Sam Stosur, who will feature in the mixed doubles. They’ll face third seeds Spain, fronted by 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal and Paula Badosa in group D. The United States will also play in Sydney, headining group C with world No.3 Jessica Pegula, Taylor Fritz, Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe.
The format sees each city host two groups of three countries competing in a round robin format. Each tie is made up of two men’s and two women’s singles matches plus a mixed doubles match, with the added edge that the doubles will be the deciding match if two countries win two singles matches apiece.
The winners of each group will play off and then the city winners – plus the next best nation – advance to the United Cup Final Four in Sydney, which will be played from January 6 to 8.
The event replaces the ailing ATP Cup, which lasted just three years before Tennis Australia partnered with the ATP and WTA to re-launch old favourite the Hopman Cup, and give it teeth with 500 rankings points on offer across both circuits.
“It’s only going to get better and bigger,” Dellacqua said. “It’s really a players’ event, they’re at the forefront of what is being provided here, but we also know that Aussies love to sit down on the couch and watch tennis in January, and this event will see the men and the women competing together, which will be really exciting.”
Whether Australians are ready to embrace the post-Barty summer schedule remains to be seen, but Dellacqua said new heroes would reveal themselves.
“There’s no doubt what Ash did in January was extraordinary and a special thing,” she said. “We had that great experience with Ash but I feel like, by the time every Australian Open comes around, there’s always more great stories to tell. We’re all going to miss Ash and I will certainly miss seeing her play, but we’re very excited to see the next generation come through.”
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