Australian summer of tennis guide: New $15m mega-event, return of nine-time champ and Nick’s big shot

It’s hot out. That means it’s time for tennis.

The men’s and women’s tours have already begun to descend upon Australia for the lead-up to the season’s opening grand slam, and the main event itself – the Australian Open – across the last two weeks of January.

Things will look a bit different this year with the United Cup replacing the men-only ATP Cup, ensuring the world’s top talents are in action from December 29.

And in total there will be five lead-up tournaments, plus qualifying, across seven states and territories before the action truly gets underway at Melbourne Park.

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All major tournaments will air on Nine and its platforms, with the exception of the Kooyong Classic which airs on SBS.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Australian summer of tennis.

UNITED CUP

Dates: December 29 to January 8

Venue: Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane (group stage); RAC Arena, Perth (group stage); Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney (group stage and final four)

Category: ATP/WTA mixed team competition

Draw size: Six groups of three countries, 18 countries in total, up to eight players per country

Ever since the Hopman Cup was effectively abandoned after its greatest moment – when Serena Williams faced Roger Federer in mixed doubles, to enormous interest – tennis has been trying to get a pre-Australian Open teams event to work.

The ATP Cup gathered some interest, with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal squaring off in the final of the inaugural edition, but without women involved it still felt a bit empty. It’s hoped the United Cup can help fix that.

Most of the world’s top players will participate across the three host cities, thanks to the $15 million in prize money plus ATP/WTA ranking points on offer, with the three city winners plus the best second-place team advancing to the finals in Sydney.

The absentees are most notable on the men’s side with Novak Djokovic, Canadian pair Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov (who led their nation to victory in last year’s ATP Cup), and Russians-not-but-credited-as-such Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev all playing the Adelaide International instead. On the women’s side world No.2 (though a long, long way back from No.1) Ons Jabeur is missing, along with the three top-10 women from Belarus and Russia – Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova.

Australia copped a tricky draw, playing off in Sydney against Great Britain (led by Cam Norrie and Daniel Evans) and most notably Spain (with Rafael Nadal, Paula Badosa and Pablo Carreno Busta all ranked in the top 13, though new world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz will miss).

Australia will face the Brits on December 29 and 30, then the Spanish on January 2 and 3. The latter fixture means there’ll be a Nick Kyrgios v Rafael Nadal showdown.

UNITED CUP TEAMS AND PLAYERS

PERTH

Group A

Greece

Men: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Michail Pervolarakis, Stefanos Sakellardidis, Petros Tsitsipas

Women: Maria Sakkari, Despina Papamichail, Valentini Grammatikopoulou, Sapfo Sakellaridi

Belgium

Men: David Goffin, Zizou Bergs, Kimmer Coppejans, Michael Geerts

Women: Elise Mertens, Alison Van Uytvanck, Magali Kempen, Kirsten Flipkens

Bulgaria

Men: Grigor Dimitrov, Dimitar Kuzmanov, Adrian Andreev, Alexandar Lazarov

Women: Viktoriya Tomova, Isabella Shinikova, Gergana Topalova

Group F

France

Men: Arthur Rinderknech, Adrian Mannarino, Manuel Guinard, Edouard Roger-Vasselin

Women: Caroline Garcia, Alize Cornet, Leolia Jeanjean, Jessika Ponchet

Croatia

Men: Borna Coric, Borna Gojo, Matija Pecotic

Women: Petra Martic, Donna Vekic, Tara Wurth, Petra Marcinko

Argentina

Men: Diego Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo, Federico Coria, Andres Molteni

Women: Nadia Podoroska, Maria Carle, Paula Ormaechea

BRISBANE

Group B

Poland

Men: Hubert Hurkacz, Kamil Majchrzak, Daniel Michalski, Lukasz Kubot

Women: Iga Swiatek, Magda Linette, Weronika Falkowska, Alicja Rosolska

Switzerland

Men: Stan Wawrinka, Marc-Andrea Huesler, Dominic Stricker, Alexander Ritschard

Women: Belinda Bencic, Jil Teichmann, Ylena In-Albon, Joanne Zuger

Kazakhstan

Men: Aleander Bublik, Timofey Skatov, Denis Yevseyev, Grigoriy Lomakin

Women: Yulia Putintseva, Zhibek Kulambaveva, Gozal Ainitdinova

Group E

Italy

Men: Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Andrea Vavassori, Marco Bortolotti

Women: Martina Trevisan, Lucia Bronzetti, Camila Rosatello, Nuria Brancaccio

Brazil

Men: Thiago Monteiro, Felipe Meligeni Alves, Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida, Rafael Matos

Women: Beatriz Haddad Maia, Laura Pigossi, Carolina Alves, Luisa Stefani

Norway

Men: Casper Ruud, Viktor Durasovic, Andreja Petrovic

Women: Ulrikke Eikeri, Malene Helgo, Lilly Haseth

SYDNEY

Group C

USA

Men: Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Denis Kudla, Hunter Reese

Women: Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Alycia Parks, Desirae Krawczyk

Germany

Men: Alexander Zverev, Oscar Otte, Daniel Altmaier, Fabian Fallert

Women: Laura Siegemund, Jule Niemeier, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Julia Lohoff

Czech Republic

Men: Jiri Lehecka, Tomas Machac, Lukas Rosol, Dalibor Svrcina

Women: Petra Kvitova, Marie Bouzkova, Jesika Maleckova

Group D

Spain

Men: Rafael Nadal, Pablo Carreno Busta, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, David Vega Hernandez

Women: Paula Badosa, Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

Australia

Men: Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur, Jason Kubler, John Peers

Women: Ajla Tomljanovic, Zoe Hives, Maddison Inglis, Sam Stosur

Great Britain

Men: Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jan Choinski, Jonny O’Mara

Women: Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Anna Brogan, Ella McDonald

CANBERRA INTERNATIONAL

Dates: December 31 to January 7

Venue: Canberra Tennis Centre, Canberra

Category: ATP Challenger Tour / ITF W60

Draw size: ATP – 32 singles, 16 doubles; ITF – 32 singles, 16 doubles

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL 1

Dates: January 1 to 8

Venue: The Drive, Adelaide

Category: WTA 500 / ATP 250

Draw size: ATP and WTA – 32 singles, 24 doubles

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL 2

Dates: January 9 to 14

Venue: The Drive, Adelaide

Category: WTA 500 / ATP 250

Draw size: WTA – 32 singles, 16 doubles; ATP – 28 singles, 24 doubles

Most of the big names not featuring in the United Cup will head to Adelaide instead, with a particularly strong men’s field in the first tournament that features eight of the top 20.

The second tournament loses Novak Djokovic but gains Nick Kyrgios, and gets scarily good on the women’s side, with Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Caroline Garcia joining Ons Jabeur to complete the WTA top four.

HOBART INTERNATIONAL

Dates: January 9 to 14

Venue: Domain Tennis Centre, Hobart

Category: WTA 250

Draw size: 32 singles, 16 doubles

AUSTRALIAN OPEN QUALIFYING

Dates: January 9 to 12

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne

Category: Grand Slam

Draw size: 128 men and women

KOOYONG CLASSIC

Dates: January 10 to 12

Venue: Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, Melbourne

Category: Exhibition

Draw size: 8 men

The unique and traditional tune-up event does not have ranking points on offer, but does have the sole appearance before the Australian Open of world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, along with Aussie star Alex de Minaur.

VICTORIAN WHEELCHAIR OPEN

Dates: January 10 to 14

Venue: Hume Tennis Centre, Melbourne

Category: ITF 1 Series

Draw size: 32 men’s singles, 24 women’s singles, 16 quad singles, 16 boys’ singles

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Dates: January 16 to 29

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne

Category: Grand Slam

Draw size: 128 singles, 64 doubles

Here’s the big one, and on both sides there is plenty of intrigue but for quite different reasons.

Let’s start with the women, where defending champion Ash Barty obviously won’t be defending; so we have to wonder whether the result is a fait accompli?

Iga Swiatek, after all, has dominated the WTA tour since Barty’s retirement. Making the semi-finals last year at Melbourne Park, she went on to win 37 straight matches, along with the French Open (for the second time) and US Open (for the first). She has more than double the ranking points of world No.2 Ons Jabeur.

From an Aussie perspective it’s almost frustrating, because it’s quite clear Barty would’ve been the only woman able to truly challenge Swiatek right now. But instead, we’re left to wonder who could cause an upset as the Pole bids for her first Australian Open crown.

The odds of an upset are still good, because it’s simply very hard to win a grand slam – last year Barty was the first women’s top seed to win the Aussie Open since Serena Williams in 2015.

So could it be Jabeur, who made the Wimbledon and US Open finals to end last year? Jessica Pegula, the world No.3 who has made the quarter-finals in Melbourne twice in a row? Caroline Garcia, the world No.4 who had done little to suggest slam-winning potential until the end of 2022, when she made the US Open semi-finals and then won the WTA Finals? Or perhaps last year’s finalist Danielle Collins, or two-time champ Naomi Osaka, who’ll have to make a run while unseeded?

That’s the great thing about the women’s tour: there are always plenty of contenders. Even if Swiatek looks streets ahead right now.

On the men’s side, the title race feels even more open – even if the guy who always wins here is finally back.

Novak Djokovic, assuming he gets through border control, will be the favourite to claim a record 10th Australian Open crown but where he falls in the draw will be fascinating. He dominated when he played last year, but because of his Covid decisions, he didn’t play quite as often as his fellow top stars, leaving him ranked outside the top four.

He could easily fall into an earlier-than-expected match-up with Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and all-time men’s record-holder with 22 slams (a record he effectively holds because Djokovic wouldn’t get vaccinated).

Nadal’s remarkable run to the 2022 crown looks even more so with hindsight – needing two five-set wins, including that absurd final where he stormed back from two sets down.

It was a fairytale ending – arguably the greatest seen at the tournament since 2017, when Roger Federer downed Nadal in that famous final, marking the late-career revival which gave him three more slam titles.

And remember what happened after Federer won in 2017 out of nowhere? He won in 2018, too, taking advantage of Djokovic and Nadal’s relatively early exits and beating Marin Cilic in the final. Perhaps Nadal can do the same after his magical 2022 run?

But neither of those two legends will be the No.1 seed – Carlos Alcaraz, the boy wonder who has delivered on his immense promise earlier than anyone expected, will.

The youngest ever men’s world No.1, Alcaraz came of age at last year’s US Open, taking advantage of Djokovic’s absence and Nadal’s fourth-round loss to Frances Tiafoe, beating fellow young gun Casper Ruud in the final.

In fact, either Alcaraz or Ruud winning at Melbourne Park would not be a massive shock; this feels like the inflection point tennis has been waiting for, where the next generation finally has as much of a chance as the old guard to win any given slam. (Except Roland Garros.)

Daniil Medvedev, the man who was two sets up on Nadal in last year’s final, is sort of in the middle ground but after making the decider in consecutive Australian Opens, is another strong contender to finally claim one.

And then, of course, there’s the Nick Kyrgios question. He won’t be the dangerous, unseeded floater of the last two editions – set to be seeded at around No.22, Kyrgios should at least be expected to make the third round. A repeat of 2020, when he made the fourth round and lost to top-seeded Nadal in four sets, would not surprise.

But he’s better than he was in 2020. After all, 2022 was a breakout year for Kyrgios, claiming his first slam title (in doubles in Melbourne), making the Wimbledon final and sitting at the US Open’s quarter-final stage arguably the title favourite, after beating Medvedev in four sets.

He lost a five-setter to Karen Khachanov in the quarters, but a statement was made nonetheless. Kyrgios hadn’t made the quarters of a slam since 2015, then did it twice in a row.

This is the closest he has come to living up to his immense talent and, in his prime at age 27 – and likely close to an early retirement to simply enjoy his life – now appears his best chance of becoming Australia’s first local men’s champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

MELBOURNE WHEELCHAIR OPEN

Dates: January 16 to 20

Venue: Hume Tennis Centre, Melbourne

Category: ITF Super Series

Draw size: 32 men’s singles, 24 women’s singles, 24 quad singles, 16 boys’ singles

AO JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dates: January 21 to 28

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne

Category: Junior Grand Slam

Draw size: 64 singles, 32 doubles

AO WHEELCHAIR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dates: January 24 to 28

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne

Category: Grand Slam

Draw size: 16 men’s singles, 16 women’s singles, 8 quad singles

BURNIE INTERNATIONAL 1 and 2

Dates: January 30 to February 13

Venue: Burnie Tennis Club, Burnie, Tasmania

Category: Week 1 – ATP Challenger / ITF W60, week 2 – ITF 25

Draw size: ATP – 32 singles, 16 doubles; ITF – 32 singles, 16 doubles