United Cup: Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Maya Joint and Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu, Jack Draper commit

Two years on from his Perth heroics against Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur could be set for an RAC Arena return at the 2026 United Cup. And de Minaur is not the only big name locked in for the inter-city tournament, as he will be joined by one of Australia’s hottest prospects Maya Joint and Great Britain stars Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. Following on from the reveal of a star-studded Polish team, United Cup tournament director Stephen Farrow announced hosts Australia and Team GB would also be joining the round-robin and knockout team tournament, played across Perth and Sydney. While Perth fans will not know the make-up of their side of the draw and which countries will play their group games out west until November 17, the increasingly-stacked nature of the line-up bodes well for WA. Men’s world no.6 de Minaur has played every iteration of the United Cup, including the 2024 tournament where he wowed Perth fans with back-to-back singles wins over Fritz and Djokovic in front of a packed RAC Arena. The 27-year-old, who has returned to his career-high singles ranking this week, said he was excited to kick off his season at the United Cup once again. “The event is unique and it offers up something completely different for fans. They love to embrace the format and get behind the Aussies at home,” de Minaur said. “The energy at the United Cup is electric. It’s fun being on court but also on the bench, being loud and noisy, supporting each other.” Fresh from becoming the first Australian teenager since Jelena Dokic in 2000 to win 30 WTA matches in a year, 19-year-old Joint has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past two years. After ending 2023 ranked 773rd in the world, Joint catapulted herself to just outside the top 100 by the end of 2024, and has built on her form to climb to 32nd. Four years on from her stunning US Open triumph as a teenager, Raducanu has started to rediscover the form that made her one of the best young players in the world. Having fallen as far as No.283 at the end of 2023, the 22-year-old recorded third-round appearances at three of this year’s four majors to rise back to 29th. Men’s world no.12 Draper made the fourth round at both the Australian Open and French Open in 2025 and reached a career-high of fourth in June after winning at Indian Wells.