2 months ago
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Perth-born tennis star Maddison Inglis predicts a big summer from her Australian teammates as the national squad prepares to start the season against some of the best players in the world.
Despite missing out on an opportunity to play in front of her home fans at January’s United Cup tournament, with Australia drawn to play in the Sydney side of the competition, Inglis believes there will be exciting tennis for fans in Perth.
Maddison Inglis and Jason Kubler represent Australia at the United Cup.
Despite playing in Sydney due to the draw, Inglis relished the opportunity to return home and spend quality time with her family this week.
“To train here for the next couple of weeks and get ready for the summer is awesome, so it will be a good few weeks,” she said.
“Perth has some awesome teams and some big names, so they’ll have some great matches to watch and I know my family is still going to watch.
“I think we are very lucky to be supported by an amazing federation and have the support that we do.
“All the players have been doing so well, especially the Aussie girls. In the last year or two they have been pushing each other, and I think there’s a few more in the Australian Open main draw than there were in the past few years, so I’m super excited to see ho all the girls do in the summer.”
Other Australian tennis set to play in the United Cup include Storm Hunter, who grew up in Rockingham after being born in Queensland. Hunter and Inglis will be joined by top-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur, John-Patrick Smith and Maya Joint.
However, Inglis said it was the opportunity to play alongside boyfriend Jason Kubler that was one of the major highlights of the upcoming tournament.
“We were really looking forward to [playing in Perth] and having our family around,” she said.
Maddison Inglis is looking forward to playing alongside partner Jason Kubler.
“So we thought Perth would be really special, but in saying that, we had a great time in Sydney. So to be there and support the team and be a part of it, we are super pumped wherever it is.”
The United Cup begins on January 2 next year at RAC Arena, with Spain to face Argentina during the day before Greece take on Japan in the night session.
Team USA will be led by men’s world No.6 Taylor Fritz and women’s world No.3 Coco Gauff.
Four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 Naomi Osaka returns for Japan, world No.8 Jasmine Paolini suits up for Italy and fan favourite Stefanos Tsitsipas will represent Greece.
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Perth will also host top-ranked players from Great Britain, Switzerland and France over the six-day tournament.
RAC Arena will also host two quarter-final matches on January 7, with the final taking place in Sydney on January 11.
Tournament director Stephen Farrow said ticket sales for the tournament had been moving well which reflected the excitement for the high-quality players arriving for the Cup.
“What we do find is that people do buy tickets late here, and certainly that moment when the players touch down in Perth, and people are able to see that. That’s when we really see the real kick up,” he said.
“All the players who come to Perth always want to come back. I think the fact that we have so many big names coming to Perth has been really reflected in ticket sales”
Australia will kick off its tournament against Norway at night on January 3.
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