The 2026 United Cup will kick off the new tennis season in spectacular fashion, with some of the sport’s most iconic names returning to the sidelines as captains. From 2–7 January, 18 nations will battle across Perth and Sydney in the innovative mixed-team event, and the captaincy list reads like a roll call of tennis royalty.
Lleyton Hewitt, Stan Wawrinka, and Tim Henman, will guide their respective countries through the event, while reigning champions USA, will again have Michael Russell at the helm.
Captains:
Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland – Perth)
The three-time Grand Slam champion steps up as playing captain alongside world No.11 Belinda Bencic. Wawrinka will balance on-court duties with leadership as Switzerland open against Italy and France in Group C.
Tim Henman (Great Britain – Perth)
The man who reignited British tennis in the late 1990s and early 2000s takes charge of a dangerous Team GB led by world No.10 Jack Draper and world No.29 Emma Raducanu in Group E.
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia – Sydney)
The fiery former world No.1 and two-time major winner will no doubt, try to whip the home crowd into a frenzy as he captains Alex de Minaur and the host nation in Group D.
Other standout captains include former top-10 player Lucas Pouille (France), Japanese veteran Go Soeda (in charge of debutants Japan and four-time major winner Naomi Osaka), and a trio of proud fathers: Alexander Zverev Sr (Germany), Christian Ruud (Norway) and Stefano Cobolli (Italy).
While second-seeded Team Canada will be led by one of the best doubles players on the planet (current world No.6) Gabriela Dabrowski. Canada will also feature world No.5 Félix Auger-Aliassime, and rising teen Victoria Mboko.
The Full 2026 Field
Perth:
- USA – Coco Gauff (Capt: Michael Russell)
- Italy – Jasmine Paolini (Capt: Stefano Cobolli)
- Great Britain – Jack Draper (Capt: Tim Henman)
- France – Arthur Rinderknech (Capt: Lucas Pouille)
- Spain – Jaume Munar (Capt: Miguel Sánchez)
- Greece – Stefanos Tsitsipas (Capt: Petros Tsitsipas)
- Japan – Naomi Osaka (Capt: Go Soeda)
- Argentina – Sebastián Báez (Capt: Sebastián Gutiérrez)
- Switzerland – Belinda Bencic (Capt: Stan Wawrinka)
Sydney:
- Canada – Félix Auger-Aliassime (Capt: Gabriela Dabrowski)
- Australia – Alex de Minaur (Capt: Lleyton Hewitt)
- Germany – Alexander Zverev (Capt: Alexander Zverev Sr)
- Belgium – Elise Mertens (Capt: Christopher Heyman)
- Poland – Iga Świątek (Capt: Mateusz Terczyński)
- Czechia – Barbora Krejčíková (Capt: Jiří Novák)
- Netherlands – Tallon Griekspoor (Capt: Tallon Griekspoor – player-captain)
- Norway – Casper Ruud (Capt: Christian Ruud)
- China – Zhu Lin (Capt: Di Wu)
The United Cup has quickly become the perfect season-launcher, blending national pride, mixed doubles drama and a Davis/BJK Cup feel. With players guaranteed quality matches as a lead-in to the Australian Open, it should be an exciting event in 2026.
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