The Roar
The Roar

When are Australia playing at the United Cup? 2024 United Cup start times, dates, how it works

Alex De Minaur of Australia celebrates a point against Benjamin Bonzi of France during the Davis Cup Group Stage 2022 Hamburg match between France and Australia at Rothenbaum on September 15, 2022 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

The 2024 United Cup will be played in Perth and Sydney, beginning on Friday, December 27 2024 and concluding with the final in Sydney on Sunday, January 5.

This is the tournament’s third year, having replaced the men’s only ATP Cup, which ran from 2020 to 2022.

Channel 9 and streaming partner Stan Sport hold the broadcast rights for the tournament, as well as for the upcoming Adelaide International and Brisbane International, and of course the major event of the tennis summer, the Australian Open.

This is The Roar’s guide to watching every match at the 2025 United Cup, or streaming the tournament online on your device of choice.

Australia are aiming to back up a semi-final run at the 2024 tournament, but they began with a 2-1 loss against Argentina that needs them needing to defeat Great Britain in their other group stage tie.

Those matches will be played on Wednesday, January 1 at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena, from 5:30pm (AEDT) onwards.

The first tie features Olivia Gadecki squaring off against British women’s No.1 – and Alex de Minaur’s fiancee – Katie Boulter, while de Minaur himself faces world No. 125 Billy Harris, with a host of higher-ranked British men not participating in the tournament.

Concluding the tie is the mixed doubles, which could feature de Minaur and Boulter going head to head.

How the United Cup works

The United Cup sees 18 nations compete across six different groups of three to qualify for the tournament quarter-finals.

Groups A, C and E will play their matches in Perth, while groups B, D and F will play at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.

Each nation will play the other two countries in their group: a tie consists of a men’s singles match, a women’s singles match, and a mixed doubles match. The country which wins the most matches in the tie is the winner.

The group stage will run from 27 December 2024 until 1 January 2025; once it is complete, the winners of all six groups, plus the best two runners-up (one each from the Perth and Sydney sides of the draw) will lock horns to progress to the semi-finals.

Australia were placed into Group C alongside fierce rivals Great Britain and Argentina, playing their matches in Sydney.

Australia have selected six players – three men and three women – to represent them at the United Cup: de Minaur, Gadecki, Perez, Omar Jasika, Destanee Aiava and Matt Ebden.

Barring injuries, de Minaur and Gadecki will play the men’s singles and women’s singles matches respectively.

Perth-based teams will remain in Perth until the semi-final stage, with those two matches plus the final all to be played in Sydney.

How to watch the United Cup on TV

As rights holders, Channel Nine will broadcast all matches of the United Cup on free to air TV.

Matches are expected to largely be on their main channel – 9 or 90 for HD coverage – but check your local listings to see whether the occasional match or tie may be broadcast in your area on secondary channel 9Gem (93 or 95 for HD) instead.

Australia’s matches on December 28 will be broadcast nationwide on the main channel from 5:30pm (AEDT), with the beginning of the tie shown on 9Gem for the 6pm news.

How to live stream the United Cup

If you can’t get to a TV, you have two options to catch all the action.

For the entire summer, Nine’s streaming partner Stan Sport will be showing every tennis match on the calendar, including all United Cup, Brisbane International and Adelaide International matches, as well as every single Australian Open fixture from first match until last.

Men’s and women’s singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and even the junior boys and girls and wheelchair matches when the Australian Open starts – Stan Sport will provide subscribers ad-free live coverage, on-demand replays and highlights packages of every game, so you won’t need to miss a moment.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN ON STAN SPORT

To buy a Stan Sport subscription, you will first need to purchase a basic Stan package, and then choose the Stan Sport add-on, which will set you back at least $25 a month.

Nine’s official streaming platform 9Now will also be showing all matches live – simply click on the link, create your free account and start watching the match of your choice.

Throughout all tournaments, every court will be streamed on 9Now regardless of whether it is being broadcast on television. However, replays will not be provided.

Radio

ABC Grandstand will be broadcasting the Australian Open on radio, which can also be streamed online, as usual. To find your local ABC radio frequency, click here.