Perth, Jan 1 (NationPress) Jaume Munar is set to face Sebastian Baez in the men's singles, while Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro will compete against Solana Sierra as Spain launches their campaign against Argentina in the United Cup mixed team tennis tournament in Perth this Friday.

The four athletes will participate in a mixed doubles match to determine the final outcome if the singles matches do not yield a winner.

In another exciting matchup, Greece will take on Japan, featuring Maria Sakkari against Naomi Osaka, while Stefanos Tsitsipas will go head-to-head with Shintaro Mochizuki in the men’s singles on the same court. This marks the fourth iteration of the United Cup, an international hard-court event organized by Tennis Australia, taking place in both Perth and Sydney.

The competition will showcase 18 national teams, each comprising up to three women’s and three men’s players, competing in a group stage followed by knockout rounds. Matches in Perth will occur at the RAC Arena, while those in Sydney will be held at Ken Rosewall Arena.

During the group stage, the 18 teams have been divided into six groups of three, using a round-robin format. Groups A, C, and E will contest in Perth, whereas groups B, D, and F will engage in Sydney. The three group victors and the best runner-up from each city will progress to the quarterfinals.

Perth will host two quarterfinals on January 7, with the winners moving to Sydney for the semifinals and finals. Teams transitioning from Perth will have a travel and rest day on January 8-9. The Sydney quarterfinals are set for January 8-9, followed by the semifinals on January 10 and the final on January 11.

Each session will feature a men’s singles match, a women’s singles match, and a mixed doubles match. Singles matches will highlight each nation’s top-ranked athletes and will be played as best-of-three tiebreak sets.

The mixed-doubles matches can involve any combination of players, utilizing two tiebreak sets followed by a deciding 10-point match tiebreak if needed.

Teams

Group A

United States (1) -- Coco Gauff, Varvara Lepchenko, Nicole Melichar-Martinez

Spain -- Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Andrea Lazaro Garcia, Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers

Argentina -- Solana Sierra, Maria Lourdes Carle, Nicole Fossa Huergo

Group C

Italy (3) -- Jasmine Paolini, Nuria Brancaccio, Sara Errani

France -- Leolia Jeanjean, Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Elixane Lechemia

Switzerland -- Belinda Bencic, Naima Karamoko

Group E

Great Britain (5) -- Emma Raducanu, Olivia Nicholls, Katie Swan

Greece -- Maria Sakkari, Despina Papamichail, Sapfo Sakellaridi

Japan -- Naomi Osaka, Nao Hibino, Shintaro Mochizuki

Sydney

Group B

Canada (2) -- Victoria Mboko, Kayla Cross, Gabriela Dabrowski

Belgium -- Elise Mertens, Greet Minnen, Lara Salden

China -- Zhu Lin, Xiaodi You

Group D

Australia (4) -- Maya Joint, Maddison Inglis, Storm Hunter

Czechia -- Barbora Krejcikova, Linda Fruhvirtova, Miriam Skoch

Norway -- Malene Helgo, Astrid Brune Olsen, Ulrikke Eikeri

Group F

Germany (6) -- Eva Lys, Laura Siegemund, Mina Hodzic

Poland -- Iga Swiatek, Katarzyna Kawa, Katarzyna Piter