January is the month of ambition. New Year’s resolutions are announced and fitness plans downloaded, all while the world’s best tennis players arrive Down Under for a Summer of Tennis. As we head towards “Quitter’s Day” on January 9; where many well-intentioned resolutions are abandoned; the players are in full swing launching their season at the United Cup in Perth and Sydney ahead of the Australian Open.
The fourth edition of the United Cup sees eighteen countries featuring up to three men and up to three women competing for a not-to-be-sniffed-at minimum AUD $17.5 million / USD $11.8 million in prize money and 500 PIF ATP and WTA rankings points.
Five of the world’s top 10 men and four of the world’s top 10 women are among the international tennis superstars who in the mix, and the near-capacity crowds suggest the public has found an alternative source of motivation to get them through the hard yards of January: taking inspiration from the best in the world, rather than attempting Pilates themselves.
The Group stage has now been completed with eight out of the original eighteen countries progressing to the quarter finals. We have a look here at who has played in Sydney, you can look here for what happened in Perth, before we get into what the Quarterfinals have delivered.
Australia and the Demon Delivers
To the chants of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi, Alex de Minaur found redemption when it mattered. After opening his campaign with a loss to Casper Ruud (Norway), the Demon produced one of his best performances to defeat Jakub Mensik of Czechia 6-4, 6-1 in a crucial win to keep Australia alive in the tie.
Earlier, Maya Joint, returning from illness and playing her first match of the year, went down to 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková, in straight sets. With the tie on the line, the momentum, and the crowd, carried Storm Hunter and de Minaur through the mixed doubles, securing Australia’s place in the quarter-finals.
We asked Grand Slammer Lesley Bowrey what she thought of de Minaur’s form after the match with Mensik. “He played great tonight- his return to serve is incredible,” said Bowrey. “ He moves on to the ball. He’s one of the best returners of the game. I’m very impressed. Fantastic.” Her tips for Melbourne? “He should have a lot of confidence for Melbourne,” she said. “As long as he doesn’t overdo it! He needs a bit of rest some of the time!”
At Irresistible, we can’t resist a good love story, and the United Cup continues to provide them. Jason Kubler and Maddison Inglis arrived newly engaged, following in the footsteps of last year’s headline moment when de Minaur and Katie Boulter announced their engagement. Mixed teams, as it turns out, aren’t just good for playing tennis.
Team Czechia get cracking
20-year-old Jakub Mensik is an ATP star, and with the 30-year-old Barbora Krejcikova- who is WTA No. 63- and the rest of the team Czechia have put on an impressive start to 2026. And for an away team, they certainly got a lot of love from the crowds.
Krejcikova missed the first five months of the 2025 season, but her triumph over Joint means Czechia have advanced to the quarter-finals as the best runner-up in Sydney, with a 1-1 group-stage record, a 3-0 triumph against Norway and a 1-2 defeat to host country Australia.
“I’m very happy with my performance,” Krejcikova said. “I’m happy with the way I played from beginning to end. I had great support as well. It was a little up and down in the first set, but I’m happy to come through. I was trying to be aggressive from the start, and it’s nice to have some matches under my belt. I felt a little better on the court today.”
About to enter the hallowed Tennis Hall of Fame, tennis legend Bill Bowery told us what he thought of Krejcikova’s game. “She’s a very good player,” said Bowrey. “She’s won a couple of grand slams, and she’s got a lot of variety in her game. She plays a lot of slice, backhands and forehands, and then finds power when she needs to. So she’s a very complete player.” Not bad!
Germans Retreat
Eva Lys put up a valiant effort with a set and a break up against the world no. 2 Polish Iga Swaitek, before being edged out I three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Prior to this Lys had never won more than 2 games in their previous six meetings.
Zverev gave it all he had, and although he was incredibly frustrated he should feel proud that he is still playing very well but unfortunately came up against Hurkacz who was having of the best days of his life!
The loss marked a stark departure from Germany’s United Cup triumph two years earlier and stood in sharp contrast to the team’s earlier off-court bonding and joking around in Sydney — including a seaside photo call at Wylie Baths in Coogee. The contrast was hard to miss.
Poles push on
Love was notably absent as Poland swept Germany aside 3–0 in Sydney, led by Hubert Hurkacz, who returned from injury serving as if nothing, including 7 months time off, hadn’t happened. His 21 aces proved particularly confronting for World Number 3, Alexander Zverev who didn’t mince his words at the change of ends. Zverev delivered an expletive-laced assessment in Russian of Hurkacz’s “f***ing crazy” serve, openly questioning how a player returning from injury could be firing at 230km/h in the cold. It was sheer disbelief, from Zverev, shared loudly with zero editing!
With Poland defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in the final match of Group F we’re feeling that not all January resolutions are negotiable – and some losses are felt immediately and painfully.
Norway Nuked
In his first match, former world no. 2 Casper Rudd upstaged Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-3, but was then unable to overcome up and coming Czechian Jakub Mensik in the next round.
“To beat Alex here in Australia is one of the toughest challenges we have in tennis, so I’m super happy to have that on my resume now,” Ruud told Jim Courier during his on-court interview after the de Minaur match.
“It’s a great start a new season. I think we’ve all seen Alex in better shape than he was today. He was doing a few unforced errors that typically he doesn’t, so I got some free points here and there.”
Netherlands Knockout
The Netherlands were in one of the toughest groups in the tournament up against two- time finalists Team Poland and 2024 champions Team Germany.
Orange is a prominent colour trend for 2026 in fashion and product design, and finishing off their look with something very close to the Pantone 2026 colour of the year Cloud Dancer means that even though the Netherlands are out, they are well placed to thrive on the fashion circuit.
Tallon Griekspoor played singles matches against Alexander Zverev (Germany) and Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) Suzan Lamens faced Eva Lys (Germany) and Iga Swiatek (Poland).
Chinese New Year
The first Chinese man to crack the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings is Zhang Zhizhen. Zhang is No. 410 in the world after an injury-mired 2025 season during which he struggled with a shoulder injury, which dates back to when he was 15.
The former World No. 31 began feeling pain in the front of his shoulder in February when he competed in Doha and Dubai. It began to subside and then became a bigger issue the following month when he traveled to the United States for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Triple Z earned double the wins to propel China past Belgium 2-1 Saturday at the United Cup.
After Zhang Zhizhen survived a thrilling singles match against Zizou Bergs, Zhang partnered Zhu Lin past Bergs and Elise Mertens 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-6 in the deciding mixed doubles inside Ken Rosewall Arena.
Team China then suffered a heartbreaking loss to Team Canada but the New Year is still looking lucky for our Asian friends in the last weeks of the Year of the Snake.
Belgium Step Up
Belgium were fully aware that their quarter-final hopes depended on sweeping past Canada 3–0 to secure a quarter-final place – and that’s exactly what they did.
Bergs set the tone, saving every break point he faced to frustrate in form, Felix Auger-Aliassime. “We had to beat some big players today and a big tennis country,” Bergs said. “We small Belgians, we are so proud of each other today what we did as a team, especially after a rough first encounter with China.”
Experience followed with Mertens outlasting 19-year-old Victoria Mboko 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a two-hour, five-minute contest that placed Belgium on the brink, before the pair reunited to win the mixed doubles 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 and top the group. Earlier in the week, Canada and China had visited Sydney Zoo, where the kangaroos and koalas were considerably less aggressive than Belgium would prove to be.
Canadian comedown
25-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, at a career-high No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and 19-year-old Victoria Mboko led Team Canada in a 3-0 sweep against China.
Mboko ended 2025 on a five-match winning streak that earned her the second WTA Tour title of her season in Hong Kong.
Fortunes were reversed as they lost out to Team Belgium 3-0, meaning that they are out of United Cup 2026, but not out of the season, and hopefully will cut the mustard in Melbourne for some 100% pure maple- flavoured showdowns.
With the group stage complete, the United Cup moves into the quarter-finals and the part of January where optimism meets reality. Teams test their chemistry, players lean on each other emotionally, and the crowds, now fully invested, realise that if they’re going to follow their country they’ll need to get loud.
The quarterfinals in Sydney will be held across Thursday 8 and Friday 9 January and have already taken place in Perth 7th January
Sydney will host two semifinals on Saturday 10 January followed by the final of the United Cup from 5.30pm on Sunday 11 January
LIST OF QUALIFIED COUNTRIES AND PLAYER ENTRY LIST
ATP 6 113 15* | USA Taylor Fritz Mackenzie McDonald Christian Harrison
| WTA 3 154 18* | Coco Gauff Varvara Lepchenko Nicole Melichar-Martinez |
8 189 85* | CANADA Felix Auger-Aliassime Alexis Galarneau Cleeve Harper
| 18 241 10* | Victoria Mboko Kayla Cross Gabriela Dabrowski |
22 140 14* | ITALY Flavio Cobolli Andrea Pellegrino Andrea Vavassori
| 8 152 3*
|
Jasmine Paolini Nuria Brancaccio Sara Errani
|
7 190 45* | AUSTRALIA Alex de Minaur Jason Kubler John-Patrick Smith
| 32 175 P3* | Maya Joint Maddison Inglis Storm Hunter |
10 124 1*
| GREAT BRITAIN Jack Draper Billy Harris Lloyd Glasspool | 29 257 26* | Emma Raducanu Mingge Xu Olivia Nicholls |
3 246 11*
| GERMANY Alexander Zverev Patrick Zahraj Kevin Krawietz
| 40 46 465
| Eva Lys Laura Siegemund Mina Hodzic
|
43 205 49* | BELGIUM Zizou Bergs Kimmer Coppejans Sander Gille
| 20 122 P110* |
Elise Mertens Greet Minnen Lara Salden |
29 254 17* | FRANCE Arthur Rinderknech Geoffrey Blancaneaux Edouard Roger-Vasselin
| 36 106 123
| Lois Boisson Leolia Jeanjean Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah
|
P47 257 34* | POLAND Hubert Hurkacz Daniel Michalski Jan Zielinski
| 2 124 59* |
Iga Swiatek Katarzyna Kawa Katarzyna Piter |
36 104 103* | SPAIN Jaume Munar Carlos Taberner Inigo Cervantes
| 42 182 107*
| Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Andrea Lazaro Garcia Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers |
19 86 53* | CZECHIA Jakub Mensik Dalibor Svrcina Adam Pavlasek
| P10 137 66* | Barbora Krejcikova Linda Fruhvirtova Miriam Skoch |
34 276 219* | GREECE Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Sakellaridis Petros Tsitsipas | 52 172 143* |
Maria Sakkari Despina Papamichail Sapfo Sakellaridi
|
92 306
| JAPAN Shintaro Mochizuki Yasutaka Uchiyama | 16 186 | Naomi Osaka Nao Hibino |
45 136 33*
| ARGENTINA Sebastian Baez Marco Trungelliti Guido Andreozzi | 66 128 110* |
Solana Sierra Maria Lourdes Carle Nicole Fossa Huergo |
25 161 29*
| NETHERLANDS Tallon Griekspoor Guy Den Ouden David Pel | 87 235 21* | Suzan Lamens Eva Vedder Demi Schuurs |
157 328 402 | SWITZERLAND Stan Wawrinka Jakub Paul Luca Castelnuovo
| 11 266 155*
| Belinda Bencic Celine Naef Naima Karamoko
|
12 243 | NORWAY Casper Ruud Viktor Durasovic
| 478 804 38* | Malene Helgo Astrid Brune Olsen Ulrikke Eikeri
|
P60 663 247*
| CHINA Zhizhen Zhang Rigele Te Aoran Wang | P50 285 | Zhu Lin Xiaodi You |
P= Protected ranking, J= Junior ranking, *= Doubles ranking
