Novak Djokovic’s first event for 2024 revealed as Australian tournament lands major coup
The United Cup has managed to get one of the biggest names in sport to sign up for the 2024 edition as tennis great Novak Djokovic has been confirmed for the tournament alongside the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Naomi Osaka.
Djokovic will make his debut at the 2024 edition of the tournament – which will be staged in Sydney and Perth – after he skipped the inaugural event this year.
The 36-year-old opted to take part in the Adelaide International this year with the ATP 250 tournament dates clashing with the United Cup.
He went on to lift the Adelaide title and a few weeks later he also won the Australian Open, which helped him to tie Rafael Nadal on 22 majors before he moved to 24 majors Grand Slams with titles at Roland Garros and the US Open.
The United Cup will likely be Djokovic’s only warm-up tournament before the 2024 Australian Open at Melbourne Park as he usually opts to rest the week before a Grand Slam.
The 24-time major winner will headline the Serbia team – who will also feature for the first time – at the 2024 tournament with the event running from December 29 to January 7.
The European nation’s remaining five members, which will consist of three WTA players and two more ATP players, as well as the Serbia captain are yet to be confirmed.
Serbia will be one of 18 countries taking part in the annual team event next year with the United States the current champions after they defeated Italy 4-0 in the final.
The defending champions will once again be spearheaded by world No 4 Pegula along with men’s world No 9 Taylor Fritz.
World No 2 Swiatek will again team up with Hubert Hurkacz for Poland – who reached the semi-final this year – while Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari will line up for Greece.
2024 United Cup Teams:
Argentina – Tomás Martín Etcheverry, Nadia Podoroska
Australia – Alex de Minaur
Brazil – Beatriz Haddad Maia
Canada – Félix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Fernandez
China – Zhizhen Zhang, Qinwen Zheng
Croatia – Borna Ćorić, Donna Vekic, Ivan Dodig
Czech Republic – Jiří Lehečka, Markéta Vondroušová
France – Adrian Mannarino, Caroline Garcia, Édouard Roger-Vasselin, Varvara Gracheva
Germany – Alexander Zverev, Angelique Kerber, Tatjana Maria
Great Britain – Cameron Norrie, Katie Boulter, Dan Evans, Neal Skupski
Greece – Stefanos Tsitsipas, Maria Sakkari
Japan – Yoshihito Nishioka, Naomi Osaka,
Italy – Lorenzo Sonego, Jasmine Jasmine Paolini
Latvia – Jeļena Ostapenko
Netherlands – Tallon Griekspoor, Arantxa Rus, Wesley Koolhof, Demi Schuurs
Norway – Casper Ruud
Poland – Hubert Hurkacz, Iga Swiatek, Jan Zieliński, Katarzyna Piter
Spain – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Roberto Bautista Agut
United States – Taylor Fritz, Jessica Pegula, Austin Krajicek, Caroline Dolehide, Rajeev Ram
READ MORE: Defiant Novak Djokovic confirms he is ready to challenge tennis chiefs in feisty interview