BREAKING: Novak Djokovic and Team Serbia to miss out the inaugural edition of the United Cup
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Novak Djokovic - FirstSportz
Novak Djokovic and his compatriots in the Serbian national tennis team will not be competing in the inaugural edition of the United Cup. For context, a tournament is a mixed-gender event, aimed at showcasing the best of both genders paired together, at an international level. It is scheduled to begin from the 29th of December this year and offered 18 spots up for grabs. Unfortunately, one of those spots won’t feature the 35-year-old Novak Djokovic, arguably one of the greatest players of all time.
Essentially, the United Cup will be taking place in Australia, with 3 cities acting as co-hosts, namely Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth. The Serb, who finally had his ban from participating in the Australian Open lifted, will be seen in the country in the second half of January, attempting to win his 22nd slam. However, he won’t be featuring at the start of the Australian tennis season, alongside his countrymen.
The recently crowned ATP World Tour Finals champion is already being hailed as an all-time favorite to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. But he is forced to miss out on the United Cup after his team failed to grab one of the two remaining spots. Had they qualified, team Serbia would have faced off against 17 other nations in five groups of three, across the designated Australian venues. Four of the top teams will qualify for the knockout round, scheduled to occur between the 6th and 8th of January 2023.
United Cup 2022: Qualifying Teams
Bulgaria and Kazakhstan completed the line-up for the United Cup 2022, grabbing the much-coveted spots. They will be entering the fray alongside Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States of America.
Bulgaria is a part of Group A, scheduled to face France and Greece in Perth. Meanwhile, entering Group B in Brisbane, Kazakhstan will be facing Poland and Switzerland.
The qualifying countries were chosen along the following criteria: ATP Top 6 rankings, WTA Top 6 rankings, and the Top 6 from a combined ranking. However, while the drawing of teams took place earlier this month, 2 spots were left vacant since the ATP session hadn’t ended. Now, following the conclusion of the ATP Finals, where Djokovic clinched a stellar 6th-time victory, equaling Roger Federer’s incredible feat, the two final teams have been officially chosen. And despite his success, Novak failed to capture a spot for Serbia.
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