Men’s and women’s professional tennis spend most of the year on separate tours.
The United Cup brings them together.
Staged in Australia at the beginning of the season, the tournament features national teams containing both ATP and WTA players. Men and women compete in singles for the same team before potentially joining forces in mixed doubles.
That final part is what makes the competition particularly unusual.
A tie can be level at 1-1 after the two singles matches, leaving a man and woman from each country to take the court together with the entire contest on the line.
Introduced in 2023, the United Cup has quickly established a distinctive place on the tennis calendar. It offers ATP and WTA ranking points, substantial prize money and international team competition — while also acting as an important early-season preparation event ahead of the Australian Open.
So how does the United Cup work? How do countries qualify? And how can a player earn ranking points while competing as part of a national team?
Here is the complete guide.
What Is the United Cup?
The United Cup is an international mixed-team tennis competition jointly presented by the ATP and WTA in partnership with Tennis Australia.
Countries field teams containing male and female players.
Under the 2026 format, 18 countries competed across Perth and Sydney, with each national team permitted to include up to three men and three women.
Each tie consisted of:
One women’s singles match
One men’s singles match
One mixed doubles match
The country winning at least two of those three matches won the tie.
That creates something rarely seen at the highest level of professional tennis.
ATP and WTA players aren’t simply competing at the same venue.
Their results contribute to the same team score.
How Does a United Cup Tie Work?
The format is remarkably easy to understand once a tie begins.
Each country plays three matches:
Match 1
Singles
Match 2
Singles
Match 3
Mixed Doubles
In 2026, the singles matches featured the No. 1-ranked singles player on each team. The order of the men’s and women’s singles could vary, but mixed doubles was the third match.
Suppose Australia played Italy.
Australia wins the women’s singles.
Italy wins the men’s singles.
The score is now:
AUSTRALIA 1-1 ITALY
Everything comes down to mixed doubles.
Whoever wins that match wins the tie 2-1.
This is one of the United Cup’s defining features.
At many mixed-gender tennis events, mixed doubles can feel separate from the headline singles competition.
At the United Cup, it can decide which country advances.
Is Mixed Doubles Always Played?
Yes — under the 2026 format, mixed doubles was played even if one country had already won both singles matches.
This matters during the group stage because advancement isn’t determined solely by whether a country wins or loses a tie.
Individual match results can become relevant when teams finish level in their groups or when determining the best runner-up.
That means the mixed doubles isn’t necessarily meaningless at 2-0.
A country can win the overall tie but still have something to gain from completing a 3-0 victory rather than finishing 2-1.
The 2026 standings recorded not only tie win-loss records but also match, set and game percentages.
How Many Countries Play in the United Cup?
The 2026 United Cup featured 18 countries.
They were divided between:
PERTH
9 countries
and
SYDNEY
9 countries
Each city contained three groups of three countries.
So the opening stage looked like this:
PERTH
Group A — 3 countries
Group C — 3 countries
Group E — 3 countries
SYDNEY
Group B — 3 countries
Group D — 3 countries
Group F — 3 countries
Each country played the other two teams in its group once.
How Does the Group Stage Work?
Each group contains three countries.
That means every country plays two ties.
For example:
Country A vs Country B
Country A vs Country C
Country B vs Country C
After those ties are completed, the countries are ranked within the group.
The six group winners — three from Perth and three from Sydney — advance to the quarterfinals.
But there are eight quarterfinal places.
The other two go to:
Best runner-up in Perth
and
Best runner-up in Sydney.
So finishing second doesn’t automatically eliminate a country.
That proved particularly important at the 2024 tournament, when Germany progressed after finishing second in its group and ultimately went on to win the entire competition.
What Happens After the Group Stage?
Eight countries remain:
6 group winners
2 best runners-up
=
8 QUARTERFINALISTS
The quarterfinals are split between Perth and Sydney.
After that, the tournament comes together in Sydney.
The four quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals, with the semifinal winners meeting in the United Cup final.
So the knockout pathway is:
QUARTERFINAL
↓
SEMIFINAL
↓
FINAL
↓
🏆 CHAMPION
Each knockout tie follows the same basic three-match structure:
Singles
Singles
Mixed Doubles
How Are United Cup Matches Scored?
The singles matches use familiar professional tennis scoring.
They are played as best-of-three tiebreak sets.
Mixed doubles is slightly different.
The teams play:
Two tiebreak sets
and, if the score reaches one set each:
10-POINT MATCH TIEBREAK
instead of a conventional third set.
So a mixed doubles match might finish:
6-4, 3-6, [10-7]
The Match Tiebreak helps keep the mixed doubles compact while still providing a decisive final stage to the tie.
How Do Countries Qualify for the United Cup?
Qualification is one of the more unusual parts of the competition because both ATP and WTA rankings are involved.
For the 2026 United Cup, countries qualified through three principal routes.
At the initial entry deadline, 10 countries qualified through the highest-ranked individual players who had entered:
5 countries through their highest-ranked ATP player
5 countries through their highest-ranked WTA player
A further eight teams were selected according to the best combined ranking of the highest-ranked eligible man and woman from the same country.
There was also a second qualification date.
If an eligible Top 10 ATP or WTA player had entered but their country hadn’t already qualified through the individual-ranking route, the rules allowed up to one ATP-led and one WTA-led team to replace the lowest-ranked teams from the combined-ranking category.
Australia, as host nation, was guaranteed entry either directly through the rankings or via a wildcard.
It sounds complicated, but the principle is straightforward:
A country needs strength from its men, its women — or ideally both.
Why Use Combined Rankings?
Because this is a mixed-team tournament.
Imagine two countries.
COUNTRY A
Men’s No. 4
Women’s No. 95
COUNTRY B
Men’s No. 24
Women’s No. 19
Country A has the higher-ranked individual player.
But Country B has much greater strength across both tours.
The combined-ranking pathway gives countries with strong male and female representation a route into the field.
That’s important because a United Cup team needs to compete in both men’s and women’s singles.
A country cannot build its entire campaign around one star.
Do Players Earn ATP and WTA Ranking Points?
Yes.
This is one of the most important differences between the United Cup and competitions such as the Laver Cup.
United Cup singles matches can award ATP and WTA ranking points.
At the 2026 event, a player could earn a maximum of 500 ranking points.
But there is an important detail.
A United Cup victory isn’t worth a fixed number of points in every situation.
The number of points awarded depends on:
How far into the tournament the match is played
and
The ranking of the opponent defeated.
For example, under the 2026 points table, beating a Top 10 opponent was worth:
| Stage | Ranking Points |
|---|---|
| Group Stage | 55 |
| Quarterfinal | 80 |
| Semifinal | 130 |
| Final | 180 |
A player who defeated Top 10 opponents at every stage could therefore accumulate the maximum 500 points.
Beat lower-ranked opponents and fewer points are awarded.
This is different from a normal ATP 500 or WTA 500 tournament, where ranking points are primarily determined by the round reached.
Does Mixed Doubles Award Ranking Points?
No ATP or WTA singles ranking points are awarded for winning the mixed doubles match.
The ranking-point opportunity comes from singles.
But mixed doubles can still be the match that decides whether a country progresses through the tournament.
That creates an interesting contrast.
A singles victory can help both:
the player’s individual ranking
and
the country’s United Cup campaign.
A mixed doubles victory doesn’t provide those singles ranking points, but it may be the result that keeps the entire team alive.
Is the United Cup an ATP or WTA Tournament?
It’s both.
The United Cup is an ATP-WTA event, staged in partnership with Tennis Australia.
That’s a major part of its identity.
Most of the professional season is divided between:
ATP Tour — men’s professional tennis
and
WTA Tour — women’s professional tennis
The United Cup brings the two together within one competition.
Players compete for the same national team.
Their matches count towards the same tie.
And both ATP and WTA singles ranking points are available.
When Is the United Cup Played?
The United Cup is a season-opening tournament held in Australia.
The 2026 edition ran from 2-11 January, immediately before the Australian Open portion of the summer.
This makes the event useful for players preparing for the first Grand Slam of the season.
They can play competitive matches against high-level opposition, earn ranking points and adapt to Australian hard courts — while competing in a team environment that is very different from the rest of the Tour.
Where Is the United Cup Played?
In 2026, the two host cities were:
PERTH
RAC Arena
and
SYDNEY
Ken Rosewall Arena at Sydney Olympic Park
The group stage and quarterfinals were split between the two cities.
The semifinals and final were held in Sydney.
That gives the tournament an unusual geographical structure.
Countries begin their campaigns in either Western Australia or New South Wales before the remaining Perth teams travel across the country for the final stages in Sydney.
When Did the United Cup Begin?
The inaugural United Cup was staged in 2023.
It was introduced as a new mixed-team event and replaced the ATP Cup, the men’s team competition that had been held in Australia from 2020 to 2022.
The change created something substantially different.
Instead of an international competition involving only ATP players, the new tournament brought men’s and women’s professional tennis together.
The first United Cup was also larger than the current format, before the competition was streamlined to 18 countries from 2024 onward.
Who Won the First United Cup?
The United States won the inaugural tournament in 2023.
The American team included players such as Taylor Fritz, Jessica Pegula, Frances Tiafoe and Madison Keys.
The United States defeated Italy in the final in Sydney to become the first United Cup champion.
The format has changed since that first edition — the 2023 final itself used more matches than today’s three-match ties — but the central concept remains:
men and women representing the same country in the same competition.
Who Has Won the United Cup?
Through the completed 2026 tournament, there have been four editions and three different champions:
| Year | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | United States | Italy |
| 2024 | Germany | Poland |
| 2025 | United States | Poland |
| 2026 | Poland | Switzerland |
The United States became the first country to win twice when it defeated Poland in the 2025 final.
Germany’s 2024 victory was particularly dramatic. Alexander Zverev saved two championship points against Hubert Hurkacz before Germany eventually won the deciding mixed doubles through Zverev and Laura Siegemund.
Then came Poland.
After finishing runner-up in both 2024 and 2025, the Poles finally won their first United Cup title in 2026.
Who Won the 2026 United Cup?
Poland defeated Switzerland 2-1 in the final in Sydney on January 11, 2026.
Switzerland took the lead when Belinda Bencic defeated Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Hubert Hurkacz then kept Poland alive by beating Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
That left the championship to be decided by mixed doubles.
Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski defeated Bencic and Jakub Paul 6-4, 6-3, giving Poland its first United Cup title after consecutive runner-up finishes.
It was almost the perfect illustration of the tournament’s format.
One women’s singles.
One men’s singles.
Score tied 1-1.
One mixed doubles match for the trophy.
How Much Prize Money Is Available?
The 2026 United Cup offered a minimum of AUD $17 million in prize money.
Prize money and participation payments are another reason the United Cup should be viewed as a genuine part of the professional tennis season rather than simply an exhibition team event.
The exact payment structure can change between editions, so for an evergreen article it makes more sense to explain the system than to build the page around a table that may quickly become outdated.
The key distinction is that players are competing for:
their country
ranking points in singles
prize money
all within the same event.
United Cup vs Davis Cup
Both involve players representing countries, but they are fundamentally different competitions.
UNITED CUP
Men and women
ATP + WTA
Mixed doubles
Held in Australia
Season-opening event
ATP/WTA singles ranking points available
DAVIS CUP
Men
National-team competition
Singles and doubles
Played through its own international competition structure
No WTA component
United Cup vs Billie Jean King Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup is the major women’s international team competition.
The United Cup combines men and women.
UNITED CUP
Men + women
↓
Singles + singles + mixed doubles
BILLIE JEAN KING CUP
Women
↓
Singles + doubles
The Billie Jean King Cup also has a much longer history, dating to 1963, while the United Cup began in 2023.
See Billie Jean King Cup Explained
United Cup vs Laver Cup
These are very different events despite both being team competitions.
UNITED CUP
Country vs country
Men and women
ATP/WTA ranking points available in singles
Mixed doubles
LAVER CUP
Europe vs World
Men only
No ATP ranking points
Singles and doubles
The United Cup is therefore integrated more directly into the regular ATP and WTA ranking systems.
United Cup vs Olympic Tennis
Perhaps the closest conceptual comparison is Olympic tennis.
Both involve:
Men and women
National teams
Singles
Mixed doubles
But the Olympics are held once every four years and players compete for medals.
The United Cup is an annual professional tournament and offers ATP and WTA ranking points in singles.
The qualification systems are also completely different.
Why Mixed Doubles Matters So Much
Mixed doubles exists at the Grand Slams and Olympics, but the United Cup gives it a different kind of importance.
Imagine a knockout tie.
The women’s singles finishes:
POLAND 1-0 USA
Then the men’s singles:
POLAND 1-1 USA
Everything now rests on two players from each country taking the court together.
The established singles stars may have to communicate, choose formations, decide who takes particular shots and adapt to a version of tennis they rarely play during the rest of the season.
And unlike mixed doubles at a Grand Slam, they aren’t playing simply to progress through a separate mixed doubles draw.
They’re playing to keep their entire country in the tournament.
The 2026 final provided exactly that scenario when Poland and Switzerland split the singles before Kawa and Zielinski won the mixed doubles to decide the championship.
That’s the United Cup at its best.
Why the United Cup Is Different
Tennis has plenty of international team competitions.
Davis Cup has more than a century of history.
The Billie Jean King Cup has been part of women’s tennis since 1963.
The Olympics offer medals.
The Laver Cup pits Europe against the rest of the world.
But none has quite the same structure as the United Cup.
Its defining idea is simple:
Men and women contribute equally to the same national result.
A country with the world’s best male player isn’t guaranteed success.
Neither is a country with the world’s best woman.
To win consistently, teams need strength across both sides of professional tennis — and potentially a mixed doubles combination capable of delivering when the tie reaches 1-1.
That makes team construction interesting.
It also makes certain countries much more dangerous than their highest individual ranking might suggest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the United Cup?
The United Cup is an international mixed-team tennis tournament in Australia featuring male and female players representing the same country. It is an ATP-WTA event presented in partnership with Tennis Australia.
When did the United Cup start?
The inaugural United Cup was held in 2023.
How many countries play in the United Cup?
The 2026 edition featured 18 countries. The format for future editions should be checked annually because tournament structures can change.
How many matches are in a United Cup tie?
Under the 2026 format, three: one men’s singles, one women’s singles and one mixed doubles.
Is mixed doubles always played?
Under the 2026 format, yes. It was the third match of every tie.
How many countries reach the quarterfinals?
Eight: the six group winners plus the best runner-up from Perth and the best runner-up from Sydney.
Do players earn ATP and WTA ranking points?
Yes. Singles players could earn up to 500 ranking points at the 2026 United Cup, depending on the stage and ranking of the opponents they defeated.
Does mixed doubles award singles ranking points?
No. ATP and WTA singles ranking points are earned through the singles matches.
Where is the United Cup played?
The 2026 tournament was played in Perth and Sydney, with the semifinals and final in Sydney.
Who won the first United Cup?
The United States won the inaugural competition in 2023.
Who won the 2026 United Cup?
Poland, defeating Switzerland 2-1 in the final.
Which country has won the most United Cup titles?
Through 2026, the United States is the only two-time champion, winning in 2023 and 2025. Germany won in 2024 and Poland in 2026.
Final Thoughts
The United Cup solves a simple problem in an interesting way.
Professional tennis has outstanding men’s players.
It has outstanding women’s players.
But for most of the season, they compete in separate tournaments and separate ranking systems.
The United Cup puts them on the same team.
A women’s singles victory counts towards exactly the same national result as a men’s singles victory.
If those two matches split, the players come together.
Mixed doubles decides it.
At the same time, the tournament remains connected to the regular professional season through ATP and WTA singles ranking points and prize money.
That combination gives the United Cup its own identity.
It’s not Davis Cup.
It’s not Billie Jean King Cup.
It’s not Laver Cup.
And it’s not simply an exhibition before the Australian Open.
It’s one national team, containing men and women, trying to win the same trophy.
Continue Reading
Olympic Tennis Explained
Laver Cup Explained
Davis Cup Explained
Billie Jean King Cup Explained
The ATP Tour Explained
The WTA Tour Explained
Tennis Ranking Points Explained
Grand Slams Explained
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