Ready to rumble: Sydney stars sightsee, set for showdown

People from around the world visit Sydney Harbour to take an iconic photograph in front of its eponymous bridge. The stars of the United Cup did the same Friday before play begins Saturday at Ken Rosewall Arena.

The top players from Poland (Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek), Australia (Alex de Minaur and Olivia Gadecki), Great Britain (Billy Harris and Katie Boulter) and Italy (Flavio Cobolli and Jasmine Paolini) took in the sights before beginning their season.

Few final touches in Sydney 😮‍💨#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/HVJqGsHuET

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 27, 2024

"I really love coming here to Australia. Sydney has been great to me," Hurkacz said. "I've been playing some good matches and some nice battles. And the city of course and the Australian people, I really, really enjoy the atmosphere that is here. Everyone's coming after a short break, so it's [the] beginning of a new season. Everyone is kind of eager to start playing some tennis."

One of the biggest tennis stories in recent weeks has been the news of De Minaur and Boulter's engagement. While teammates posed together, the happy couple also took a few snaps. With that in mind, they are focussed on starting their event and year well.

"I never have associated playing in Australia as pressure," said De Minaur, who last year earned victories against three Top 10 players in the PIF ATP Rankings at the United Cup. "I've always associated it as excitement and something that I'm looking forward to every single year, because we don't get to do it as often as we would love to. So whenever we're back here, the season is starting, I know we're playing in front of our home crowd, and that's always exciting, what I get up for, and I think it always brings the best tennis in me."

The first matches in Sydney will take place Saturday when France takes on Switzerland and Australia faces Argentina.