Stan Wawrinka, Lleyton Hewitt And Tim Henman Among United Cup Captains In 2026

Stan Wawrinka (photo: Florian Heer)

United Cup Media Release, December 6, 2025

Lleyton HewittStan Wawrinka and Tim Henman are among the star-studded lineup of past and current tennis stars to captain teams at the United Cup in 2026.

The fourth edition of the innovative mixed team competition will again open the global tennis season, with 18 countries set to compete under the guidance of some of the sport’s most respected names from Friday 2 January across Perth and Sydney.

In Perth, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka will act as a playing captain for Team Switzerland alongside world No.11 Belinda Bencic. Team Switzerland will face Italy and France in Group C action.

Henman, who inspired a British tennis revival in the 1990s by becoming the first Briton to reach the men’s semifinals at Wimbledon in 25 years, will captain Team Great Britain, starring world No.10 Jack Draper and world No.29 Emma Raducanu in Group E.

Lucas Pouille, former top 10 player will lead Team France, which will feature French No.1s Arthur Rinderknech and Lois Boisson in Group C.

Former Japanese player Go Soeda will guide Japan in their United Cup debut with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and 2019 Junior Wimbledon winner Shintaro Mochizuki in the same group as Great Britain and Greece.

In Sydney, home favourites Australia will be skippered by former world No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt in Group D.

Top 10 doubles player Gabriela Dabrowski will head up second seeds Team Canada, including world No.5 Felix Auger-Aliassime and teenage sensation Victoria Mboko in Group B against China and Belgium.

Rounding out the list are a number of father-son duos, including Alexander Zverev Sr for Team GermanyChristian Ruud for Team Norway and Stefano Cobolli steering Team Italy.

The full roster for 2026 includes:

Seed

 

Country

No.1 player

Captain

City

1

USA

Coco Gauff

Michael Russell

Perth

2

Canada

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Gabriela Dabrowski

Sydney

3

Italy

Jasmine Paolini

Stefano Cobolli

Perth

4

Australia

Alex de Minaur

Lleyton Hewitt

Sydney

5

Great Britain

Jack Draper

Tim Henman

Perth

6

Germany

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev Sr

Sydney

7

Belgium

Elise Mertens

Christopher Heyman

Sydney

8

France

Arthur Rinderknech

Lucas Pouille

Perth

9

Poland

Iga Swiatek

Mateusz Terczynski

Sydney

10

Spain

Jaume Munar

Miguel Sanchez

Perth

11

Czechia

Barbora Krejcikova

Jiri Novak

Sydney

12

Greece

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Petros Tsitsipas

Perth

13

Japan

Naomi Osaka

Go Soeda

Perth

14

Argentina

Sebastian Baez

Sebastian Gutierrez

Perth

15

Netherlands

Tallon Griekspoor

Tallon Griekspoor

Sydney

16

Switzerland

Belinda Bencic

Stan Wawrinka

Perth

17

Norway

Casper Ruud

Christian Ruud

Sydney

18

China

Zhu Lin

Di Wu

Sydney

Tickets to the United Cup are on sale now. For further information please visit UnitedCup.com/tickets.