Highlights:
- The United States took a 1-0 lead as Taylor Fritz defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4.
- The inaugural United Cup features teams from 18 nations.
- Rafael Nadal and world No. 13 Paula Badosa will represent Spain.
The United States took a 1-0 lead in its United Cup mixed teams match on Thursday after Taylor Fritz defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4. Madison Keys faced Marie Bouzkova in the Group C match at Ken Rosewall Arena in an effort to give the United States a 2-0 lead at the end of the first day.
On each of the two days, two men’s and two women’s singles matches will be contested, with a mixed double match capping up the five-match tie on the second day. The third-seeded team in the competition is the United States, which is led by world No. 3 Jessica Pegula and men’s No. 19 Frances Tiafoe. The world’s ranking for the Czech Republic is 14.
The inaugural United Cup is taking place in Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney through January 4. Teams from 18 nations are participating. The three city champions and the next-best performing nation from the group stage will compete at Ken Rosewall Arena from January 6 to January 8 to decide the overall winner.
Top-seeded World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and World No. 6 Maria Sakkari are Greece’s top two competitors. Poland, which is seeded second, will be led by No. 11 Hubert Hurkacz and No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the world.
Rafael Nadal and world No. 13 Paula Badosa will represent Spain, while Martina Trevisan and world No. 16 Matteo Berrettini will represent Italy.
Two groups of three nations will compete against one another in a round-robin format in each host city. In addition, Switzerland will play Kazakhstan at night in Group B at Brisbane on the opening day of the tournament on Thursday. Greece takes against Bulgaria in Group A at Perth, and France later plays Argentina i