Pat Rafter all the time relished the staff setting and ethos when he represented Australia within the Davis Cup, which is why he says the inaugural United Cup occasion is a “great concept”.
Rafter spoke about his pleasure forward of the Brisbane group stage part of the 18-country staff occasion that begins on Thursday, December 29 at Queensland Tennis Centre, the place groups from six nations will compete. Sydney and Melbourne will host the opposite 12 groups.
Standing on the centre courtroom named after him, the previous world No.1 mentioned the very fact the perfect women and men from around the globe had been taking part in collectively was a step in the suitable route.
“When I played, we rarely saw the men and women come together. It is extra content and an extra dynamic that the players and the people in the stands can watch,” Rafter informed reporters.
“You are going to see some of the great players play multiple matches. A lot of the time if a (big name) player comes here and they lose you don’t get to see them again.
“The idea of staff sports activities has been working very well. We noticed with the ATP Cup how engaged all of them had been. I feel the (United Cup) goes to have that very same form of really feel just like the outdated Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup and people kind of occasions.”
The list of big names on their way to Brisbane has Rafter licking his lips about the quality of tennis to be played.
Across seven days, Brisbane will host Poland, Switzerland and Kazakhstan in Group B, while Group E boasts Italy, Norway and Brazil.
Rafter listed world No.3 Casper Ruud (Norway), world No.16 Matteo Berrettini (Italy) along with three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) and world No.10 Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) as players to watch.
“You are additionally going to see some recent faces, names you might not know however who’re going to be the following up-and-comers,” he said.
It is women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek from Poland, the current French Open and US Open champion, who is the major drawcard and who Rafter has keenly followed over the years, due to her clashes with Ash Barty.
“Swiatek is a superb participant. I noticed loads of her play as a result of I noticed loads of Ash play. Whenever I might watch Ash they might be arising towards one another,” he mentioned.
“She’s had a extremely nice 12 months and has loads of smarts about her. She is a kind of women I assumed had an X (issue) component as a part of her sport. By all accounts she is a extremely beautiful woman. I do know Ash is an enormous fan of hers.”
