Alex de Minaur and Maya Joint’s bid to help secure a maiden United Cup for Australia will begin in Sydney in January against Norway and a Grand Slam champion-led Czechia.
The Aussies’ group was revealed at Monday’s draw in Sydney where they were seeded in Group D, which includes the likes of Czech former women’s world No.2 and two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova and men’s former No.2 Casper Ruud.
The Czechs present an especially formidable hurdle for Australia. While yet to beat De Minaur in four career meetings, world No.19 Jakub Mensik – this year’s Miami Masters champion – will make his debut in the competition as the youngest man in the top 20.
The 29-year-old Krejcikova will use a protected ranking of No.10 to begin her season. The Roland Garros 2021 and Wimbledon 2024 champion has never faced the 19-year-old Joint, who completed Australia’s unbeaten Billie Jean King Cup campaign with singles wins against Portugal and Brazil in Hobart at the weekend.
Krejcikova is also a Grand Slam doubles great having seven women’s doubles majors as well as three Australian Open mixed doubles crowns.
After ending his second straight season in the top 10 following a maiden run to the last four at the ATP Finals in Turin, De Minaur will also carry confidence into Australia’s clash against Norway. He owns a 2-0 record against world No.12 Ruud.
Joint, in her United Cup debut, will bring memories of a previous win to her scheduled showdown with Norway’s Malene Helgo, having beaten her at an ITF event in Slovenia in 2024.
Jason Kubler, Maddison Inglis, former world No.1 doubles player Storm Hunter and John-Patrick Smith complete Australia’s team, one of 18 in the competition’s fourth year.
The top-ranked nation from each of the six groups as well as the two best-performed nations across the groups will progress to the knockout quarterfinals.
Two-time champion Team USA, led by world No.3 Coco Gauff and world No.6 Taylor Fritz, is the top-seeded nation in 2026. The reigning champions begin their campaign in Group A in Perth against Spain and Argentina.