World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas has hailed the arrival of the United Cup, and he hopes Greece turn out to be the inaugural champions.
The match was dealt a giant blow on Wednesday when drawcard Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the mixed-team occasion.
But there’ll nonetheless be loads of star energy, led by 22-time males’s grand slam winner Rafael Nadal and ladies’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek.
Tsitsipas was an enormous fan of the Hopman Cup, and he loves the very fact the United Cup can also be a mixed-team occasion.
Each tie will comprise two males’s singles matches, two ladies’s singles matches, and a blended doubles contest.
Greece, boasting the likes of Tsitsipas and world No.6 Maria Sakkari, are the No.1 seeds.
Unlike the Hopman Cup, rating factors are on supply for the United Cup, and Tsitsipas hopes the match is right here to remain.
“I’m glad that the United Cup is a thing now. We’ve been discussing this for a very long time, combining it with the women,” Tsitsipas mentioned.
“They deserve a spot in this competition as well. It’s really nice to join forces and make this thing come together for both genders.”
The withdrawal of Kyrgios is a serious blow to Australia’s hopes of profitable, and can heap additional strain on Alex de Minaur to supply the products.
Australia’s marketing campaign begins on Thursday night time in opposition to Great Britain in Sydney.
De Minaur will tackle world No.14 Cameron Norrie, whereas world No.772 Zoe Hives will fly the Australian flag in opposition to Katie Swan.
“I’m pretty disappointed. He draws some crowds. I was looking forward to playing him,” Norrie mentioned of Kyrgios’ exit.
“But (it’s) even better for us. We still have a tough opponent against Demon (de Minaur).”
Greek star Tsitsipas faces an intriguing conflict with skilled Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in Perth.
Day one additionally options the US taking over the Czech Republic in Sydney, France in opposition to Argentina in Perth, and match-ups between Italy and Brazil, and Switzerland and Kazakhstan in Brisbane.
France’s Alize Cornet is already a fan favorite in Western Australia after producing a collection of combating shows on the Hopman Cup.
The 32-year-old begins her marketing campaign in opposition to Argentine Maria Carle on Thursday night time, and he or she has loads of fond reminiscences of Perth.
“I won the Hopman Cup in 2014 and the Fed Cup in 2019,” Cornet mentioned.
“Yesterday when we had our first hit on centre court with Caroline (Garcia), we had a little moment of emotions coming back on this court.
“It was very highly effective, this group expertise, and this pleasure of profitable the Fed Cup.
“So I hope this lucky charm is going to act on this team, because … we have a really good team to go far in the tournament.”
