United Cup: Perth’s draw praised despite missing out on Australian ace Alex de Minaur
WA tennis fans have missed out on world number nine Alex de Minaur at this year’s United Cup — but Australian tennis greats Alicia Molik and John Fitzgerald have lavished praise upon the Perth side of the draw.
Australian star de Minaur whipped Perth crowds into a frenzy at last year’s United Cup with a pair of sumptuous straight set wins over Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic and rising American Taylor Fritz.
But Perth will miss out on any chance of a repeat performance at this year’s tournament, with Australia to be based in Sydney after being in group F alongside Great Britain.
It means Perth will also miss out on a homecoming showing for local product and Olympic doubles gold medalist Matt Ebden.
However, there is plenty of star-power bound for Perth regardless, including the top-seeded USA team featuring Coco Gauff and Fritz, Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng, men’s world number three Alexander Zverev, Greek superstar Stefanos Tsitsipas and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Molik, a former world number eight and Australian Open quarter-finalist, said the American tandem of women’s world number three Gauff and men’s world number six Fritz was a huge coup for Perth.
“It’s phenomenal. Not just purely because of rankings to have Coco and Taylor Fritz here, but I think they’re a large part of the future of tennis in the world,” she said.
Camera IconFormer Australian professional tennis players Alicia Molik and John Fitzgerald at the live United Cup tennis tournament draw in Perth. Credit: Ross Swanborough/The West Australian
“We’ve seen just glimpses of Coco’s best. I think she will dominate women’s tennis over the next few years.
“And Taylor too is just really sparking up. It’s a real renaissance now in men’s tennis in the United States, reaching his first Grand Slam final was quite remarkable this past year.”
Fitzgerald, who completed the career men’s doubles Grand Slam, felt Perth had a stronger draw than Sydney.
“It’s a very favorable draw for Perth, the seeded teams were incredibly impressive, particularly the USA, and Greece, who have been a mainstay of the United Cup over the last few years,” he said.
“To have Germany, the defending champions, come back as well. It’s really a top end group of teams that are going to compete here. There’ll be some blockbusters every day, great match-ups.
“I’m going to put my hand up and say I want to come here and commentate during the summer.”
The USA have been drawn in Group A with Canada — who boast men’s world number 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime and women’s world number 34 Leylah Fernandez — and a to be determined third side.
In Group E, Zheng and Zhizhen Zhang will return to Perth with China for the second consecutive year, and Zheng will arrive back in WA with her reputation enhanced after reaching the Australian Open final this year and winning the singles at the Paris Olympics.
Camera IconAmerican world number three Coco Gauff. Credit: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
“(Qinwen) has a real on-court presence, she’s become a real mega star in the world of tennis. I think within the next year, we will see her winning a Grand Slam,” Molik said.
China will face Zverev’s Germany and Brazil in their group, while group C features Greece, Kazakhstan and Spain.
Polish women’s world number one Iga Swiatek and men’s world number 11 Hubert Hurkacz wowed Perth fans last year, but they will also be based in Sydney’s Group B along with the Czech Republic and Norway.
The draw will be released on Tuesday, but the Perth group stage will run from December 27-31, with two quarter-finals to be played on January 1.
Camera IconOlympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng is returning to Perth. Credit: Wang He/Getty Images
Tourism minister Rita Saffioti said she would like to see as many finals come to Perth as possible moving forward.
“We’re always in constant negotiations in relation to future events, but we’ll look at that into the future. We’re very proud of the draw that we have,” she said.
Perth’s United Cup draw (highest-ranked singles players listed)
Group A
America — Coco Gauff (3) Taylor Fritz (6)
Canada — Felix Auger-Aliassime (21) Leylah Fernandez (34)
TBD
Group C
Greece — Stefanos Tsitsipas (11) Maria Sakkari (22)
Kazakhstan — Alexander Shevchenko (61) Elena Rybakina (5)
Spain — Pablo Carreno Busta (Protected 18) Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (62)
Group E
China — Zhizen Zhang (46) Qinwen Zheng (7)
Germany — Alexander Zverev (3) Laura Siegemund (89)
Brazil — Thiago Monteiro (88) Bella Haddad Maia (10)
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