PERTH, Australia (AP) — The United Cup tennis match started Friday with Spain taking part in Brazil and Australia taking up Britain within the higher-profile late match at Perth, Western Australia.
The match involving blended groups from 18 international locations is being performed in Perth and Sydney, the place matches start on Saturday. Two quarterfinalists might be decided from every of the Perth and Sydney group video games with the semifinals and the Jan. 7 closing set for Sydney.
The format sees males’s and ladies’s singles matches performed forward of blended doubles, the identical utilized by the highly-successful Hopman Cup that was previously performed in Perth.
No. 1-ranked girl Iga Swiatek is representing Poland and taking part in in Perth. High-ranked and defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has arrived to characterize Serbia, additionally in Perth.
Serbia will tackle China on Sunday and Czech Republic on Tuesday within the group stage, with Djokovic set to face world No. 58 Zhang Zhizhen and No.31-ranked Jiri Lehecka in his males’s singles matches.
Djokovic gained three Grand Slam singles titles this 12 months, lacking out on solely Wimbledon, the place he misplaced to Carlos Alcaraz within the closing in 5 units. He has gained the Australian Open a report 10 instances amongst his report 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
On his arrival in Perth, he reiterated he has no plans to retire.
“I hope it’s not (the) final (time), to be trustworthy. I imply I all the time look ahead coming again to Australia,” Djokovic mentioned. “I all the time felt like I performed my greatest tennis through the years (right here) and had nice assist.”
Djokovic final visited Perth in 2013 when he performed on the Hopman Cup.
“It feels nice, it’s been some time since I used to be right here final,” Djokovic mentioned. “I keep in mind each single time I performed in Perth it was nice attendance, individuals love tennis, individuals love sport in Australia usually. So I don’t count on something much less this time, and I’m positive it’s going to be a blast for all of us.”
