United Cup 2025 - Kicking off the new Tennis Season

NOTE: This episode was recorded on Nov 30th. Since then Jack Draper, Diane Parry and Qinwen Zheng have withdrawn from the tournament.

Welcome to the new tennis season! We are excited to chat with you about the upcoming United Cup and its exciting format that brings together men’s and women’s tennis. We delve into the team event, the players’ interactions, and the thrill of mixed doubles. We’ll also talk about the players in the field - Iga Swiatek, Hubi Hurkacz, Maria Sakkari, Katie Boulter & Alex De Minaur and some memorable moments from past tournaments. Plus, we discuss the impact of coaching changes and rise of the super coach. And to start of the new year we touch on the importance of environmental responsibility in tennis. So, grab a racket and get ready for some fun!

transcript

Nick (00:00)

Welcome to 2025. Okay, not quite yet, but unfortunately, if you're a tennis fan, you're in a rush to get the year done. So, to rush to get the new year started. So, we're here, guys.

Anastasia (00:04)

Not yet.

We're here, we did it. But technically, it is still 2024. It's the beginning of the new season, 2025, but it's December of 2024. So, yay tennis.

Nick (00:32)

Yep, because what's the solution to an already crammed calendar? It's start the previous year.

Anastasia (00:38)

Exactly, exactly. Just seep into the previous year. man, welcome everyone. We're back.

Nick (00:46)

I mean bit of

tell his history, bit, the WTA tour, actually both tours used to do this. They used to technically finish the season in March because they actually used to have the end of year tournament in March and then yes so it was like an April to March year not a it didn't last very long I think it was like a couple of seasons in the 80s but yeah they did they did do that.

Anastasia (00:58)

Real.

of the previous year?

Tennis.

tennis, we love you so, but we're back. It's Nick our tennis brain and Anastasia. I just love the sport. It is season two, episode one of Ground Pass. You might be thinking, guys, you didn't go anywhere. I just listened to you last week. We know, but you know, it's the new season. So we have to like introduce it properly. So welcome everyone. Welcome to the new season.

really excited for what 2025 is gonna bring. If you listen to our year end review, you'll know all the things that we're excited for coming up in 2025, but we're here to talk to you about United Cup, which is the first.

And you could, know, fact check me on this, but it's the first tournament of the new season, yes? There's no other tiny ITF little thing happening, is there?

Nick (02:06)

yet because...

I mean

I believe, mean correct me if I'm, well it's not a tiny ITF event, because it starts like yeah sort of this week right it starts, it starts kind of like last week of December like it's on from the 27th of December. I'm trying to remember off the top of my head

Anastasia (02:13)

Probably.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nick (02:37)

Quick check.

you've got me going. So yeah it is the first by a few days because it starts on the 27th but we do have some ATP and WTA events starting on the 30th.

Anastasia (02:50)

So there we go. So we're in it. We are here, we're ready to go, full speed ahead, new season. And let's get into it. So United Cup, if you've been listening to us for a full season, you know what United Cup is. And thank you. Thank you for listening to us for a full season. But we talked about United Cup on episode seven of Groundpass during our first season.

And it is, I remember mentioning then that it's United Cup is if Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup had a baby, they would make United Cup. It's basically what it is. And the reason I say that is because men and women participate. So it's a mixed event. And instead of having a sort of doubles where it's two women playing, it's mixed doubles. So we have mixed doubles to fill that doubles.

section of the tournament. But United Cup, happens, it's hosted in Australia. It's hosted in two cities in Australia that are very far apart from each other.

Nick (03:55)

Which is fun when you try to mix time zones because it has this amazing effect and this is why I love about United Cup is you can be wrapping up the matches from the earliest city and be starting the ones in the latest city.

Anastasia (04:07)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Exactly, exactly. They are, they're hosted in Sydney and Perth, which are in different time zones. it's always Australia already for me who lives in the United States is already a tricky time zone. So imagine watching United's Cup and then it's like there are all these matches happening and, but there are two different time zones. So it's, it can get a bit chaotic, but they're, they happen in two different times zones that are across from each other in Australia.

Perth and Sydney and but then they come together in Sydney for the last few matches. So they have the quarterfinals, semi-finals and the finals in Sydney. Where can you watch it? Where can you watch the United Cup in the UK?

Nick (05:04)

Tennis Channel International.

Anastasia (05:06)

Great. Tennis channel here as well. Tennis channel. It's the place to go to go watch the United Cup. And if you remember from last year, tennis channel has changed at least in United States. I actually don't know if this is the way it is in for tennis channel international, but in the U.S. there was always a separation between, you know, live tennis channel that was on cable and then their streaming service. So they would hold back some

high level matches only for their live platform on cable. So you'd have to have a subscription to their digital, but then also a cable subscription. Why? They made it simpler guys. There is one subscription. It's 9.99 a month, $10 a month. It's the perfect time to probably start a new subscription is at the beginning of a new season. And it's monthly. So you can choose kind of when in the...

in the year you wanna have your tennis channel subscription live. And I think that's great. I think anything to sort of give fans the controls is really helpful. So yeah, that is, so that's how you can watch United Cup. What do we love about United Cup? I will start, I mean, we can go totally go back and forth here, but.

Last year, I think I mentioned, I kind of have a new love for tennis team events because tennis is an individual sport for the most part, unless you're playing doubles. And that's how we view the sport primarily. So it's really nice throwing in these events, Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup of mixed team events where

you can see tennis players work as a team. I think a lot of them actually enjoy it. It seems like they have a lot of fun having sort of the backup of a team and having their teammates cheer them on. So they get to experience what that's like, what other sports probably get to feel every single day. So I kind of enjoy this team kind of, because you just don't get to see these players interact this way ever.

Nick (07:22)

No, especially since the mixing of the ATP and WTA doesn't happen a lot and so you don't know what friendship there are between the tours. You get a little bit like Coco Gauff always talks about how she's talking to Ben Shelton and Francis Tiafoe and they're all teasing each other. there's a...

Anastasia (07:40)

Yeah.

Nick (07:43)

You get a little bit, but it's the rare kind of real crossover moment in those teams and I'm kind of working together. I think also that because you could get it with Davis Cup and Laver Cup, like sometimes those guys will be working together. But yeah, this is a very unique dynamic, which is always fun.

And you've got Iga Swiatek teasing Hubi Hurkacz last year, which was always lot of, always interesting.

Anastasia (08:08)

Yeah.

That

was a lot of fun. there's so many moments that now I'm thinking back of watching it last year and all the fun moments. There's this dynamic of which always happens with mixed doubles is watching how male and female players interact on court from on opposite sides of the net. I know a big topic of conversation last year was seeing how

the male players on the other side of the net would, you how Iga returned their serves quite successfully, pretty much all the time. It was actually so bad ass. Like it was so cool to see that. you know, you get these little moments where you don't really get it in competition, you know, in tournament, you know, you know.

whatever regular tournaments you get throughout the year. specifically United Cup, especially because you get a lot of singles players play mixed doubles, like players who would never usually play mixed doubles at a tournament, you get them playing doubles here because...

United Cup is based on country. So you're only playing within your country. So sometimes it's hard for them to be like two double specialists. It happens sometimes. know like teams like Australia would probably have good mixed doubles partnerships that are double specialists. I know the US, the UK, they would probably have that. just watching Iga and Hubi play last year was gold.

Nick (09:48)

And that was a good, I think they had good chemistry together. I think the thing is, course, mixed doubles is actually fairly rare in tennis. Like you have, see it at the slams and here, and that's about it. So maybe some exhibition stuff as well. So the fact that, yeah, we see it here, I think it is always an opportunity for different and new dynamics to come out. By the way, I've just realized there's gonna be even more complicated dynamic. this is like dawned on Nick as.

if we've been recording this, Australia and GB are in the same group. They're going to be playing each other. And you know who's playing for Australia and GB, right? Yeah. For those who don't know, Alex De Minaur is going to be Australia's leading man. Katie Boulter is going to be leading things out for Team GB from the women's side along with Jack Draper. yeah, Alex and Katie are a couple.

Anastasia (10:29)

You

Nick (10:45)

They are going to be shouting at each other from across the umpire's chair.

Anastasia (10:52)

cannot wait, cannot wait, which is really funny because last year a big fixture of the United Cup was, know, so depending on where the teams are playing, if either it's in Perth or Sydney, the teams usually all stay in the same kind of hotel. By the way, this is just like a thing, even during the US Open, there are like certain hotels that all the players just stay at during the tournament. It's kind of a normal thing.

And I remember there was an interview with Alex De Minaur, I think it was after he won his match against Novak, but he was talking about how Katie Boulter and him, like they're just part of each other's teams. So, you know, she's sort of considered Australian and like he'll like be in the British camp as well. Like they kind of flow back and forth depending on who's still in a tournament or not. And,

That's going to be so great. That's going to be one of the great things to look out for in this tournament. I mean, there were some really cool moments last year. Nicholas Jarry's grandfather was their captain of the team. He used to play tennis as well for Chile. And it was just a really sweet moment. I think there were a lot of, they were doing a lot of sort of interview packages with both of them. And then, you know,

It's just such a cool moment. love moments like that where you see it's like, a lot of times you see sort of mother, daughter, father, son, that sort of thing, but he was his grandfather. And, you know, it was really special moment watching him sort of cheer him on and encourage him and coach him. And that was a good moment from last year's tournament. And I think kind of like Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.

United Cup is a time to discover new players or kind of go through the breakthrough of maybe a player that you're probably never going to hear about for the rest of the year. They're just going to have a cool moment at an event like this. And you might not hear from them, you might, but it's always

very heartwarming and I love heartwarming sporting moments. Like they kind of tug at the heartstrings. One that comes to mind from last year was Stefanos Sakaladaris, think is how you say, Sakaladaris. Stefanos, he is a Greek player who played his very first ATP tour level event last year. He was 19 at the time and he was playing for Greece.

Nick (13:19)

Sakaladaris?

Anastasia (13:33)

and he beat Tomas Machac in a match. I mean, he didn't have a rank, his ranking was in the thousands, you know what I mean? So it was such a big moment for him to win his very first ATP level match. And everyone was so excited and cheering for him. And that was a really good moment. Has he done much of anything since? I haven't really heard of him. He might be playing some ITF events, like the lower level ones. But I know he is coming back.

Nick (13:59)

Yeah, he would be because

he's ranked 504 at the minute.

Anastasia (14:03)

So he probably is playing because he was, I mean, he was in the thousands.

Nick (14:06)

He's definitely playing

because I can see him on the entry list.

Anastasia (14:10)

But yeah, so it's nice to discover new players or at least just participate in those moments because they're always fun.

Nick (14:17)

Yeah, but the other end of the scale, so many top players are also taking part in this tournament, which, no, I love discovering these players, you're right, and I'm looking through and, you know, I'm seeing some old favorites from the tour and also some new players. I'm curious to see if they get played, but insane level of top 10 participation here. You know.

Anastasia (14:24)

Yes.

Nick (14:43)

just across the board from both tours, mainly the women and including some women who haven't I don't think played United Cup before they've been tempted away from other Australian taunts they usually go play and what I love about it is because there's clashes every single day between these players and they're all unlike

This tournament is relatively long, guys. mean, it kind of, this is a 10 day tournament. feels like an old school 1000 event. But like, because it's kind of constant clashing of top players, it feels like a grand slam, especially when you've got just matches all the time. And that's what I really, another thing I really, really like about United Cup is it's got that slam feel even though it's spread across two locations. And you've got...

Anastasia (15:21)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nick (15:32)

You've got all these insanely, insanely talented players involved. mean, just, just looking at who's going, I mean, you've got, the U S has got Taylor Fritz, Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins. I mean, talk about overkill. like you, you basically, yeah, the U S is looking very, very strong and they are the top seeded team. Poland's got a Hubi Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek. They're the band back together. Greece has got Tsitsipas and Sakkari. Italy's got.

Anastasia (15:45)

Hahaha

Nick (16:00)

Jasmine Paolini, Sinner is not playing. China's got Zhang Qinwen. GB doesn't have a top 10 player, but they've got Jack Draper, who everyone's obviously really excited about. Karolina Muchova is going to be playing for Czechia. Rybakina is playing for Kazakhstan. Zverev is back with defending champions Germany, hoping to repeat their success from last year.

Casper Ruud is going to be carrying Norway as he usually does. So yeah, there's, there's, and that's just like the top top players in addition to like names you'll frequently see in the mix for tough tournaments. So yeah, lots of really, really good names to kind of go in there and that's actually a feel free to throw in any I may have missed.

Anastasia (16:49)

No, I mean, that's like a really great group. mean, like Donna Vekic is playing Alex De Minaur like we mentioned before, he's playing as well. It is... This is the time just before Grand Slam where, especially for the top players, we're trying to see where they're at. And here's the thing, they haven't played in a while. They've had an off season, so this is them coming in. I think I mentioned in the beginning of this episode, one of the things I'm looking forward to...

in 2025 is this sort of new super coach thing that's happening in tennis. There have been so many announcements of coaching partnerships. Hello, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. We'll be waiting for you. don't think they're playing. Novak isn't playing this year, but yeah, so we will have to wait on that. But Hubi Hurkazc just announced Ivan Lendl is joining his team.

Nick (17:36)

No he's not, no. Serbia is not in it.

Anastasia (17:46)

which I'm just like, what?

Nick (17:48)

Not only Ivan Lendl,

Nicholas Massu. Like he's got two, like Hurkacz wasn't a contemporary, he's gone for two coaches. Because for those of you who don't know, because like, you know, we are like, Lendl's not coached anyone since we started the podcast. I think he's not coached anyone since his fair play before, and that was before COVID. So if you haven't heard of him, Ivan Lendl is a Czech born player, although he is now a US national.

Anastasia (17:50)

What?

No, he hasn't.

Yeah.

Nick (18:14)

He won eight Grand Slams in the 1980s, up to 1990. One of the best players, like ever, definitely of his generation, probably pioneered a lot of fitness that we come to expect in the modern game. And then he successfully coached Andy Murray twice. Both times he coached Andy Murray, Murray, between Grand Slams.

tried it with Alexander Zverev that didn't go as well. Nicolas Massu is a Chilean player who, his claim to fame is he kind of won Olympic gold out of nowhere for Chile in 2004 in what was a very bizarre year for at the Olympics where like Roger Federer was the heavy favourite and he went out and Nadal and Djokovic and Murray weren't a thing yet and then the final answer being Nicolas Massu against Mardi Fish.

Anastasia (18:51)

I don't know.

Nick (19:07)

And so yeah, he won the gold medal and then he ended up becoming Dominic Thiem's coach. And again, they had a really, really good relationship. He coached Dominic Thiem to starting to compete with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal winning the US Open before Dominic sadly got injured and then just wasn't himself again and has now recently retired. So yeah, both guys were available. He'd be her catch up and he wants to coach. He decided to get both of them.

Anastasia (19:35)

He was like, why settle with one Super Coach when you can have two? And I keep saying the thing Super Coach. think that was a thing when I first became a fan that was a thing kind of with Andy Murray hiring. He hired Ivan Lendl. He hired Amelie Maresmo. Like that was the kind of like Super Coach generation, even with Novak hiring Goran Ivanisevic You know, these are all sort of former players.

who were super successful while they were playing and they are now coaching current players. So this is the super coach. And I just feel it's coming back. We're in the era of the sort of big name coach. And there are a lot of them in this new season that I'm excited to see where they can take their players. Like, can they make...

big changes with their players and take them to the next level. So excited to see how that goes. This will be the first time we've seen Hubi with his new team. Excited to see people like Maria Sakkari who I actually don't remember the last time I saw her play. I know I didn't see her at the US Open. She was out early there as well. She had a really, really rough 2024.

I know she had kind of changed coaches during Indian Wells last year and it didn't quite work out. So she's one that I'm just curious because.

And I mean, this is unfair, but I don't know. But she looks like she should be a top player. Like if anyone's seen Maria Sakkari you're like, how is she not number one? Like look at her, you know? But she just has never, I mean, and she's been in the top 10 before, but she just hasn't made those big jumps that I think would, were expected. And I want to see how she comes into this new season and...

And yeah, so there's just a lot of storylines coming into a new season that the United Cup gives us an insight to right away because all of these players are playing each other. it's like, this doesn't happen in tennis usually, but it happens in the United Cup. We know who's playing who now. By the way, big secret if you've got this far.

We're recording this episode November 30th and we already have the matchups of players. And by the way, they were out way earlier than November 30th. You just, yeah.

Nick (22:08)

This is unheard of in tennis. Like no other tennis

tournament can you plan your schedule around in the same way. I mean, obviously there's room for us to be like down and people to pull out, but it looks fairly set.

Anastasia (22:21)

Yeah,

and that is true. So full disclosure, definitely this is a list that was released weeks ago. People could, something could happen in the off season that means they don't play or something like that. So that's, you know, totally out there. But like you said, it doesn't happen in tennis. You can totally plan your whole schedule around it.

So, you know, as you're listening to this, you're still going to be able to buy tickets to the United, United Cup. And so if you're in Perth, if you're in Sydney, tickets are still available. You can definitely probably get ground passes to just walk on on the day. And you're going to know who you're going to get for the first six days of the tournament. So.

I put together a list and Nick would totally jump in when he wants of some matches that barring health and everything goes okay, I am looking forward to so much. I'm counting down the clock to some of these matches, but here we go. So we know the schedule for the first six days and who's playing when.

I will put the link in the description of this podcast so you can check it out, especially if you are planning to go to United Cup to go watch some tennis, you know who you're gonna get. Day one, Qinwen Zheng and Beatriz Haddad Maia Do you know why I'm interested in this one, Nick? You probably do.

Nick (23:49)

believe it's a rematch from a really deep cut tournament from 2023.

Anastasia (23:55)

Yes, yes, this is a deep cut guys, deep cut. It's a tournament that doesn't exist anymore. They got rid of it, but it was one of my favorite matches of 2023. The match that they had at the final of the Elite Cup, which it was an interesting concept. So it doesn't exist anymore, but the Elite Cup was basically the next eight. So, or at least the...

because I don't know how they dealt with alternates and maybe you can educate me on that. so for the WTA finals, you obviously take the top eight and there are a couple of alternates that go over with them. The next eight or 10 would then, yeah, the next 12, then they would go participate at this other tournament called the Elite Cup. And it happened for a few years, but last year was their last year.

Nick (24:36)

It was 12, I think.

Anastasia (24:49)

of doing it, it was, I don't know, it was an interesting tournament. I guess it could have been felt like you're like, this is the consolation prize for getting into the top 20, I guess. But no, the final between Qinwen Zheng and Beatriz Haddad Maia that year was the match. It was such a good match and Qinwen lost and it was close and it was fun. So I'm excited for that rematch. So I totally want to see that.

Nick (25:15)

Yeah, I think that's going to be exciting. Yeah, I think that's going to be the highlight match of day one for me. Although I will say for those who may be interested in how Elena Rybakina is, she will kind of be the opening match of the United Cup for Kazakhstan as they will be as a, yeah, she'll be playing against Spain or they'll be playing against Spain.

And so she'll be taking on Jessica Bouzas-Manerio. And I think this is going to be the tournament to see sort of, that's going to be a moment to see how she's kind of hitting the ground to start the 2025 season. Cause I think that she, along with her new super coach, Goran Ivanisevic are going to be handling the new season really and how they're going to be looking.

Anastasia (26:02)

Yeah, yeah. For day two, you know, I kind of have a similar thing with Maria Sakkari is I just want to see how she's doing. She just happens to also be playing Jessica Bouzas Manero and.

Nick (26:13)

Jessica Bouzas Manero

is obviously the play you just wheel out to test someone who's maybe a bit rusty.

Anastasia (26:18)

We love you, Jessica. You really did great last season. She had her moments definitely last season. But yeah, we're just gonna be paying attention to your opponent. Which will actually be very interesting if she could beat any of them. You know what I mean? Like that would be a good start for her, for her season. Day three, Coco Gauff and Laylah Fernandez. Yes.

Nick (26:33)

Mm.

Well, before you go to day three Anastasia

I noticed you've casually skipped over an entire tie, which I just looked at it and gone, that's just going to be blockbuster match after blockbuster match.

Anastasia (26:50)

Which one?

Nick (26:52)

Canada and Croatia. Leylah Fernandez is playing Donna Vekic and then Felix Auger-Aliassime is playing Borna Coric. That's the morning session in Perth. The Greece-Spain one's the evening session in Perth. yeah, like Felix obviously...

is a big name player. He's got the US Open so far Coric has won Cincinnati a couple of years ago. And you've got Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic against former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez who is so much fun to watch. think I said that before. So yeah, that's gonna say the entire of Canada versus Croatia, if you're awake for it, is well worth watching. Also, yeah.

Anastasia (27:15)

Yeah.

Yeah.

And if you, by the way, if you look at the schedule and you see all the doubles and they're all like TBD, it's because they're just those they pick on the day. and, but some of those, again, like we said, especially for teams that don't have double specialists, you can get some really interesting singles players playing together. And sometimes they're fun to watch. Again, Iga and Hubi last year, it was...

Nick (27:42)

on the day. They get picked on the day.

Anastasia (28:01)

It was gold. They should do it all the time, which they're probably going to do it this year as well.

Nick (28:06)

And we'll

get back to them. One last point on day two is we're also going to be seeing the return of another old favourite, Belinda Bencic, who is coming back from maternity, but actually she's playing, I believe she's taking a wild card as an ITF.

It's like this week or next week as we're recording it. So she's starting to face herself back in any way I think she's played Billie Jean King Cup as well and like the lower levels So she is kind of back on tour, but this is like her her big stage return that Belinda Bencic won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Olympics for those who don't know but yeah, that's another name I just want to throw it is Look who's back

Anastasia (28:26)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Again,

did we say we love the United Cup? I love the United Cup. There's some really great storylines that can come out of this tournament. Day three, what I was gonna say is Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez. I mean, I don't know. That to me is just sit me in front of the television. I'll watch that any day, any time, anywhere, any tournament. That to me sounds like a really fun matchup. And then Tomas Machac, who had a really great season.

Nick (28:50)

you

Anastasia (29:14)

He's our short shorts king, is gonna be playing Caspar Ruud as well. Again, I don't know, great matchups. This is really great. And then day four, Maria Sakkari and Elena Rybankina mean.

Nick (29:24)

That's going to be very, very interesting. Again, two players who are going to want to have a of a reset going into their season. yeah, Sakkari's going to want to test her metal. think she's going to be a good test for Rybakina's metal. Quick to go back to day three, you do realize that also Felix is playing Taylor Fritz, right? Like it's kind of the battle of the nice guys with big serves happening.

Anastasia (29:30)

A new season. Yeah.

I love that. That is so, the nice guys with the big serves. I like that a lot.

Nick (29:54)

Day four also like for our British listeners, that's when the Brits are Getting started. So that's December the 30th, which is also when all the other tournaments are starting And that's where you get Katie Boulter Jack Draper back in action. You've also got Iga/Hubi Kicking off against Norway. Hubi Hurkacz will be playing Caspar rude again in a battle of not nice guys with big serves, but Yeah, couple more nice guys

Anastasia (30:03)

See ya.

But the nice guys.

Nick (30:22)

Yeah, taking them on. So yeah, that's when you've got some fun players. Day five is a reduced schedule because they're not playing any matches in the evening due to it being New Year's Eve. But do want to talk about day five?

Anastasia (30:39)

So day five, there are definitely some great matches happening day five. The US are playing in Croatia. So we have Fritz and Borna Coric and Coco Gauff and Donna Vekic Rematch of the Olympics. That would be, yeah, yeah, that will be really, really interesting. But for some reason, I'm more interested in the doubles match that we don't know who's playing yet against Italy and France.

Nick (30:50)

Mm-hmm.

Yes, I could speak goth, didn't she?

Anastasia (31:07)

I'm just, I'm like, what if they put Jasmine with Fabio Caboli? Like, how is, how are they gonna do as a mixed doubles team is something I just want to see. So for me, I mean, I can't, I can't believe I missed the Coco Gauff, Donna Vekic, cause actually that's going to be my number one match cause it's a rematch and Donna Vekic won it at the Olympics.

Nick (31:21)

But

Anastasia (31:34)

but close second is gonna be whatever mixed doubles match happens between Italy and France.

Nick (31:41)

Yeah, I think that's that's going to be a lot of fun. mean, obviously, Paolini very accomplished doubles player and Errani is going as well, by the way, so they could just sub Paolini in the out and put Errani in. They've got Vavassori who is number six in the doubles rankings as well, Italy. So it might end up being Errani and Vavassori taking on whoever the French have got. think they they.

Anastasia (31:51)

oooo

who I actually saw,

I saw them both play at the US Open. They played mixed doubles together at the US Open. Yeah. So you're right. They probably could do that.

Nick (32:07)

There you go.

Vavassori Errani and then like yeah, the French have got a few more kind of options. Their doubles depth isn't great, but the French have got Eduardo Roger-Vasselin who's a top 20 doubles player and very accomplished doubles player throughout his career. So it'll be pairing him with whoever.

Anastasia (32:25)

Yeah.

That could be one of the ties where interesting, like it could be, it could go down to the doubles to see who wins that.

Nick (32:36)

Well, very likely because Cabolli Humbert that's going to be a real battle because they're both real showmen, especially Cabolli. Cabolli always gets himself involved in epics. And then Paolini and Parry. I I love watching Diana Parry play. She's just so unorthodox for a women's tennis player. But also Paolini is just brilliant anyway. So yeah, that one could well go down to the doubles. and Parry will be the favorites.

Anastasia (32:40)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. that's interesting. And day six.

Nick (33:08)

New Year's Day, yup. So I think again, noticing the schedule. They're only playing, they've only got a Sydney schedule here, interestingly.

Anastasia (33:10)

New Year's Day.

Well, the schedule I have, there are only two matches on day six. I mean, there's probably gonna be more, but do know why?

Nick (33:27)

Day six. I know why, I know why.

Yeah, I'm looking at the main schedule. So Sydney, they're rounding off all the remaining group matches from like group B and group F with Poland and Czechia and GB versus Australia, which are like two of the most mouth-watering ties. Poland and Czechia is happening in the morning session. GB versus Australia is the night session.

Anastasia (33:34)

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (33:54)

the in Perth, reason why we don't have the schedule is because they're going to be starting the quarterfinals.

Anastasia (33:59)

Yes, yes, yes. So it's gonna be TBD for them who will be playing there, but the two matches that I'm going to be glued to, I mean, all of them, think, but no, it's these two. Iga Swiatek versus Karolina Muchova Alex De Minaur versus Jack Draper

Nick (34:17)

Yes, please.

Yes, please.

Anastasia (34:22)

Done. That's what we'll be watching. Join us.

Nick (34:27)

I mean, let's face it, they're really, good. You know who else, what other match is happening? Hubi Herkacz against Tomas Machac. Or Tomas Machac Yeah.

Anastasia (34:36)

Ugh.

Another good one. mean, yeah, it's gonna be really interesting. Again, it's, I'm so interested to see because I think Hubi definitely ended his season with injury. So it will be really interesting to see him come through here, Ivan Lendl. I mean, come on. He couldn't have one. He picked two. So yeah.

Nick (35:01)

Yeah. I mean,

I'm just having a look at sort of, because obviously that one's going to be a lot of fun. that Poland Czechia tie is 10.30 AM Sydney time. And this is one of the things we're going to have to think about because I know we've got a few listeners in Australia. So you're very lucky. So if we were looking forward to...

Anastasia (35:20)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (35:26)

like the United Cup, like you know this is the 31st of December, it's 6.32 in the evening so it's more or less exactly a month from when we're recording. That match would start in five hours. Hurkacz against Machac

which for you is like a nice evening event, isn't it?

Anastasia (35:44)

Yeah, it is, it is. And this is totally an aside, but if any of our listeners want to help me out, I'm sure there must be an app for this already. And I want an app, not a website. I know I'm being picky, but I would like an app, not a website that I could put on my phone, that every time I type in the time in some country. So for example, I type in the time in Sydney.

you just need to tell me what time it is in New York. Or I type in the time in New York and you need to tell me what time it is in Sydney, Australia without going back and forth. Cause I know my clocks app can do it. I know it can, but not the way I want it to do. I just want to be able to type in the time and then just have that translated and all the maths is already done if possible. So if you're listening to this,

You have an app for me, please leave us a rating, send us an email, put it in the comments, one of those, because I'm gonna need some help in 2025. what is time? 2024 was a lot. I was doing a lot of math and I don't wanna do it anymore, but that's an aside. Back to the tennis.

Nick (37:01)

Yeah, have to, we know the day six schedule, the quarterfinals in Perth, as we said, like we don't know that yet because we need to wait for the outcomes of the groups, but it would be the winner of the group. The morning match would be the winner of group C, is Kazakhstan, Spain, Greece against the winner of group E, which is Germany, Brazil and China. So there could be some really, really interesting potential there if you just go off.

ranking you could get Elena Rybakina against Zheng Qinwen in the women's and winner of group A will be the best runner up because there's six groups so they'll be like they've got to do best runners up from the three in that location that will then complete everything that's happening in Perth and then everyone in Perth is going to be flying over to Sydney whilst they do their quarterfinals

Anastasia (37:34)

Yeah.

Nick (37:55)

which is spread over two days. So day seven and day eight will be the last two quarterfinals of the United Cup. It'll start to get a little bit less busy and then semifinals will on the 4th of January and the final will be on Sunday, the 5th of January. And then everyone can get some sleep. In theory anyway, that's as well as obviously following all the tournaments that are happening in Brisbane, Auckland,

Anastasia (38:11)

Yes.

Nick (38:19)

and Hong Kong that's happening at the same time.

Anastasia (38:21)

Yes, yeah, that

are all happening at the same time. It's gonna be a bumper start to the year. Like it'll start slow, but the moment we get into January, it's just gonna be like back to back to back. And then before you know it, it's the Australian Open. And then you're like, how did we get here? But we will cross that bridge when we get there. Hope everyone enjoys the United Cup. I really enjoyed it last year. So I think I'm really looking forward to it.

this year and, and yeah, it's going to be like.

Nick (38:54)

Well, I now know what my New Year's plans are going to be because I've realised that, that Hubi Hurkacz versus Machac start at half  11pm on New Year's Eve. then Egan Wookenberg follows.

Anastasia (39:04)

again what a better way to ring in the new year.

That is exactly, that's pretty much similar what I'm gonna do. If anyone knows how New Year's goes in New York, you wanna be inside. You don't wanna be anywhere. You don't wanna be outside. But anyway, that was our United Cup episode. Just a little thing before we wrap this episode up. It is the beginning of a new season. It's the beginning of a year. And...

Nick (39:16)

Yes.

Anastasia (39:32)

I always think it's nice to go into the new year with maybe some new goals or new, you know, new maybe habits that you want to bring. And while I was researching a few episodes, I came across an article about the ATP carbon tracker, which helps ATP players. This was something they launched in the 2023 season, helps ATP tracker, trackers.

ATP players track their emissions and, you know, it kind of, they kind of made an app for it to help players track and also try and offset their emissions. Because as we know, tennis players, they travel the world on a plane for the most part. And it might be tough. Like it's a very big.

It's like they have a big impact on the environment. I mean, we could go down the rabbit hole of tennis balls. Where do tennis balls go after they're done? Water bottles, where do water bottles go after they're done? So coming across this article just made me wanna talk about it a little bit. They had a list of the top, like they kind of did a ranking of the top 10

players of 2023. think the 2024 one hasn't come out yet, but they did a top 10 of 2023 players who did the best to offset their carb emissions. McKenzie McDonald was number one. Jan-Lennard Struff was number 10. I'll put a link in the description of this episode with full list. Of course, Dominic Thiem was on the list. He's always someone who we know.

is big on trying to be more responsible to our planet and think about waste in a responsible way. So I kind of want to bring this up because it is the beginning of the season. And maybe our listeners can kind of take something from that to try and maybe offset their impact on the environment if they want to.

using reusable water bottles has always been a thing, even though that's now like a craze. Everyone has a reusable water bottle, but the point is just getting one and using just that one. Don't get 40. What are the popular ones now that everyone on TikTok wants to get? They're like the ones with multiple colors. I don't know. don't know.

Nick (42:04)

I'm not on TikTok,

I don't know. I think I've seen what you're talking about. You know what we should do Anastasia? Ground pass water bottles.

Anastasia (42:09)

Yeah. What?

Stay tuned. Stay tuned. But yes, I just wanted to bring this up because I think it's the responsible thing to do and we're starting a new year and we might as well start thinking responsibly about our planet. If you haven't already, I think it's definitely something to read up on and see what little you can do. I know it's sort of like a big thing.

For example, I was thinking last year, I went to the most tournaments I've ever gone to and I flew to all of them. This is an impact that we have. But I think whatever, even the littlest thing you can do personally, I think will be very helpful to the situation. It doesn't have to be big, just consistent.

Nick (42:56)

And I think that's really important to think about. think tennis is such a huge sport, such an impact, and everyone who goes, including the fans, have an impact on tennis' carbon footprint. We've got a part to play in stopping things going too crazy, because we're all experiencing that at the minute.

Anastasia (43:20)

Yes.

Nick (43:21)

And other thing you can be consistent with is keeping up with us as well. As you know, this is probably the most consistent we've ever been as a ground pass in releasing regular episodes, probably because we've pre-recorded everything. But we will be, but yeah, we're looking forward to sharing the 2025 season, a new season for us. Season two will be even better than season one. They usually are.

It's when they get to about season seven or eight that things start to get tired and probably should start canceling the show at some point But we're not quite there yet. We're here and we are And we're here to stay and we're gonna have a lot of fun In Australia, well following Australia, even if it may not involve much slee

Anastasia (43:49)

Yeah.

Nick (44:10)

Please follow us for all kinds of updates on our social media, Instagram, threads, blue sky. And yeah, we will be speaking to you lots more in 2025. Looking forward to it.