- The United Cup 2024 starts the tennis season with top players competing in Australia.
- Featuring ATP No. 1 Novak Djokovic and WTA No. 2 Iga Swiatek among others.
- The event, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 7, includes a new format with three matches per tie.
- The US team, defending champions, returns with strong contenders.
- The tournament includes exciting matchups and predictions for top contenders.
The second edition of the United Cup will raise the curtain on the new tennis season as some of the best players on the planet fly to Australia to compete in the biggest lead-in event for the first Grand Slam of the year.
Nine of the planet’s Top 20 men and five of the world’s Top 10 women will descend down under to spend the New Year in Perth and Sydney, including ATP No. 1 Novak Djokovic and WTA No. 2 Iga Swiatek as the major stars.
The tournament kickstarts on Thursday, December 28, and runs through Saturday, January 7. Stay tuned and learn everything about this super-exciting event, including our favorite betting odds and predictions from the futures markets.
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What is the United Cup?
United Cup is a team-based tournament that replaced the former ATP Cup as the inaugural event of the tennis calendar last year. It is a round-robin event in which a total of 18 countries are spread across six groups, each containing three teams.
Each country comprises up to six players, three men and three women, respectively. ATP and WTA standings determine the list of eligible countries.
The 2024 event differs from last year’s maiden edition by the number of matches. A single tie between two countries now represents a series of three matches (instead of last year’s five), as follows:
- One men’s singles match
- One women’s singles match
- One mixed doubles match
The team to win at least two of three matches wins the tie.
2024 United Cup Draw
The 2024 United Cup will be played in two cities on the opposite coasts of Australia. Perth will host matches from Group A, C, and E, while Group B, D, and F will be played in Sydney. Here’s what the pools look like:
| Group A (Perth) | Poland | Spain | Brazil |
| Group B (Sydney) | Greece | Canada | Chile |
| Group C (Perth) | USA | Great Britain | Australia |
| Group D (Sydney) | France | Italy | Germany |
| Group E (Perth) | Czech Republic | China | Serbia |
| Group F (Sydney) | Croatia | Netherlands | Norway |
Six group winners will advance to the quarterfinal, while the remaining two slots will be filled by the best runner-up in each city.
The fans will enjoy 75 matches, 50 singles and 25 doubles, respectively. All matches are played on the hard-court surface at RAC Arena in Perth and Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.
The action starts on Thursday, December 28 as Spain take on Brazil at 9 p.m. ET in Perth. United States begins their title defense quest on Saturday, December 30, also at 9 p.m. ET in Perth against Great Britain. Semifinals and finals will be played in Sydney.
Main Contenders
When we look at the lineups, there are so many candidates capable of going all the way and dethroning the United States in January 2024. Nevertheless, if you dig deeper and check players’ form and potential matchups, several nations stand tall as the major contenders. Here are the primary candidates for a deep run in the first tennis event of the calendar and our favorite betting options for each of them.
USA to Win Outright at +400 with DraftKings
The reigning champions arrive in Perth determined to repeat last season’s success, returning both (4) Jessica Pegula and (10) Taylor Fritz as the main two stars. (183) Denis Kudla and (54) Alycia Parks will be the other two singles players, but we doubt they will spend much time on the court barring injuries. The team is completed with two fantastic doubles players, (7) Rajeev Ram and (11) Desirae Krawczyk.
With two Top 10 players in the world in singles and two Top 11 doubles players, it will be very hard to beat this US team in a best-of-three series.
That said, the United States will have a tough task to top the group alongside hosts Australia with the likes of (13) Alex de Minaur and (33) Ajla Tomljanovic in their ranks. Also, the Aussies will have a very strong double, featuring (6) Matthew Ebden and (24) Ellen Perez who have enjoyed a staggering campaign with their respective partners last year.
Great Britain should not represent a big threat although it is worth noting they have (18) Cam Norrie and (53) Katie Boulter as singles and (4) Neal Skupski as a big doubles star. Novak Djokovic will probably wait in the quarterfinal round, but the Serbian team would hardly secure points from the other two matches in a potential clash against the United States. Pegula would be a big favorite against either (112) Olga Danilovic or (190) Natalija Stevanovic, while the Serbian double, consisting of (65) Nikola Cacic and (265) Dejana Radanovic, would hardly match Ram and Krawczyk.
To sum it all up, the USA have a perfect combination for this type of tournament; they won it last year, and we believe they can do the same this time around.
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Secondary Suggestion Poland to Win Outright +450 at DraftKings
Poland are massive favorites in Group A and they should not have any problems storming past Spain and Brazil to clinch the pool and advance to the quarterfinal. Much like the United States, Poland have two very strong singles options in the likes of (2) Iga Swiatek and (11) Hubert Hurkacz. They don’t have as strong double but (22) Jan Zielinski and (67) Katarzyna Piter have enough capacity to cause upsets in case of slip-ups from either singles star.
Spain arrive in Perth with a modest roster. (26) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and (55) Sara Sorribes-Tormo are the main players while their double will hardly claim any points as neither (100) David Vega Hernandez nor (260) Rosa Vicens Mas can compete at such a high level.
Brazil’s success depends exclusively on the performances of (11) Beatriz Haddad-Maia and doubles veteran (46) Marcelo Melo but we can hardly see them getting the win against the star-studded Polish team. The one match we are particularly eager to see is the replay of last year’s staggering Roland Garros semifinal between Swiatek and Haddad-Maia.
Poland will likely top the group (you can bet on this, too) and then face the best runner-up from Perth. We see them as the favorites against any team bar the United States, hence we see the value in backing the Polish outfit to make it to the final four. Is there value in backing Poland to win outright at +450 with DraftKings? The answer is probably yes, you can go on an back both the USA and Poland to win and still make decent profit either way.
Greece to Win Outright as a Value Bet +650 at DraftKings
(7) Stefanos Tsitsipas and (8) Maria Sakkari both had disappointing campaigns last year. They will be highly motivated to make amends and enter the new season in a strong fashion. This tournament gives them a perfect opportunity for a big result ahead of the Australian Open.
The lack of a proper double looks worrying as (110) Pietros Tsitsipas and (117) Valentini Grammatikopoulou will hardly get results against much more established players in crunch ties. Nonetheless, Greece should still have enough to go past Canada and Chile thanks to two fantastic singles players. They would then face the best runner-up from three Sydney groups in the quarterfinal where we would still trust Stefanos and Maria to get the job done. Beating the United States or Poland in the latter stages would be a step too far in our opinion, but it’s probably worth a small punt at +650 odds at DraftKings as a value bet.
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