For the five decades of their co-existence, the ATP and WTA have traveled on parallel tracks without ever officially meeting in the middle. While the men and women of pro tennis cross paths regularly – at the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000s, during World Team Tennis and the Olympics – they’ve never joined forces in a team event, on the same courts, with real live ranking points on the line.

That era of separation will end on December 29th, when the United Cup begins. Serving as the opener for the 2023 ATP Tour and the 2023 WTA Tour, it will be held from 29 December 2022 to 8 January 2023 at three venues in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney. It will also be the first mixed-gender team event to offer both ATP rankings and WTA rankings points to its players: a player will be able to win a maximum of 500 points.

The 18-country, 11-day competition will be headlined by many of the best from both tours. Rafael Nadal and Paula Badosa will play for Spain, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz for Poland, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari for Greece, Alex De Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic for Australia, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Jessica Pegula for the United States.
Countries have been split into six pools of three teams.

Teams will play five matches per tie – two men’s singles, two women’s singles and one mixed doubles match – in the round-robin stage.

The winners of each group will face the other group winners in their city in the quarter-finals.

The champions from each city – along with the best-ranked losing nation – will head to Sydney to compete in the semi-finals and the final.

The $15 million prize pool for the United Cup reflects the backing mixed tournaments are receiving, as tennis prioritises efforts towards equality.

With Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic not participating, Rafael Nadal will take center stage among the men. The 36-year-old performed impressively on Australian soil last season, winning an ATP 250 title in Melbourne before he captured the Australian Open crown. WTA star Paula Badosa and World No. 13 Pablo Carreno Busta will also feature for Spain against Team Australia and Team Great Britain in Group D.

On the women’s side, Swiatek will be the headliner. She will hope that future involves a deep run at the United Cup, where Poland will try to battle past Kazakhstan and Switzerland in Group B.

Of course, it won’t come without its bumps in the road. The home nation’s biggest draw, Nick Kyrgios, pulled out at the 11th hour; the tournament’s Russian ban will keep Top 10ers Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Veronica Kudermetova sidelined; and the male player who has been most supportive of dual-gender tennis, Andy Murray, isn’t competing for Great Britain.

Still, it will be an historic 10 days.