On Saturday in Australia, the second of three ties in the six round-robin groups of the inaugural United Cup begin. The current group standings can be found here.
In Sydney, Rafael Nadal will play his first match of the new season against British No.1 Cameron Norrie. Earlier in the day in Sydney, Sascha Zverev will play his first match in over six months, since the gruesome injury he suffered while playing Nadal in the semifinals of Roland Garros.
In Brisbane, Iga Swiatek plays her first match of the new season, while in Perth, veterans David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov will face off.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most prominent matches on the schedule. Saturday’s play in each city gets underway at 10:00am local time.
Rafael Nadal [ESP] vs. Cameron Norrie [GBR] – Not Before 3:30pm in Sydney
Great Britain defeated Australia 3-2 in this group’s opening tie.
Nadal was 39-8 last season, but ended the season by losing four of his last five matches. A year ago in Australia is when Rafa’s latest great run began, winning his first 21 matches of 2022.
Across the last two seasons, Norrie accumulated 105 match wins, and saw his ranking rise from No.74 all the way into the top 10. On Thursday, he overcame Australia’s Alex de Minaur in straight sets, which was impressive considering Alex’s strong results when representing his country in a team competition.
Nadal leads their head-to-head 4-0, with all four matches taking place within the last two years. And across those four matches, Rafa has claimed all 10 sets contested. Despite’s Nadal’s struggles at the end of last season, he remains the favorite in this matchup.
Iga Swiatek [POL] vs. Yulia Putintseva [KAZ] – Not Before 3:30pm in Brisbane
Kazakhstan lost all five matches they played in their opening tie against Switzerland, so they desperately need some wins to stay alive in this event.
Swiatek separated herself from her competition during the 2022 season, going 67-9 with eight titles, two of which were Majors. Putintseva was just 26-21 last season, and failed to reach a final.
Iga took their only previous encounter in straight sets, which occurred in 2021 on a hard court. And based on her form from the last 12 months, Swiatek should be strongly favored to prevail again on Saturday.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Sascha Zverev [GER] vs. Jiri Lehecka [CZE] – Zverev was 29-10 last season prior to his ankle injury at the French Open. Lehecka is a 21-year-old who was the runner-up at November’s NextGen Finals. The Czech Republic lost the opening tie in this group to the United States.
David Goffin [BEL] vs. Grigor Dimitrov [BUL] – These men have met 13 times before, but it’s been quite a one-sided rivalry. Dimitrov leads 11-2, though Goffin claimed their most recent encounter, which was three years ago in another team event held in Australia, the ATP Cup. Bulgaria lost to Greece in this group’s opening tie.
The United Cup daily schedule is here.
