Djokovic to start 2024 season at United Cup, Nadal not in Spain team
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[October 20, 2023]
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - World number one Novak Djokovic will start
his 2024 season at the mixed teams United Cup in Australia but his great
rival Rafa Nadal was not on the Spain team released on Friday.
Djokovic will lead Serbia at the second edition of the A$15 million
($9.47 million) event from Dec. 29-Jan. 7 before bidding for a
record-extending 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
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![](../images/102023PIX/sports36.jpg)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia -
January 18, 2023 Spain's Rafael Nadal in action during his second round
match against Mackenzie Mcdonald of the U.S. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File
Photo |
Team Poland, led by four-time major champion
Iga Swiatek and 11th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz, are top seeds at the
16-nation tournament, which was won by the United States in
January.
Nadal played for Spain in that edition and while he described it
as a "great idea" he criticized the format for having teams play
off in dead rubbers.
He was later beaten in the second round of his Australian Open
title defense after aggravating a hip injury and has not
returned to action since.
Tournament director Craig Tiley announced last week that Nadal
would play in the next Australian Open in January but the
Spaniard's representative said there was no date set for his
comeback.
If fit, Nadal has a choice of other Australian Open warmup
events in the leadup to the Grand Slam, including a pair of ATP
tournaments in Adelaide from Jan. 1.
($1 = 1.5835 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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