China team at the bottom! Here come the 2026 United Cup championship odds

As 2025 draws to a close with only two days left, the brand-new year 2026 is calling. The first major event of the new season is the 2026 United Cup, a mixed-gender team competition jointly organized by the ATP, WTA, and Tennis Australia. This edition will be held from January 2nd to January 11th, hosted in the Australian cities of Brisbane and Sydney.

Regarding the format, the tournament features 18 teams divided into six groups for the round-robin stage. The top team from each group, along with the two best second-placed teams from the two cities respectively, will advance to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will be held exclusively in Sydney. Each tie between teams will include men's singles, women's singles, and mixed doubles matches in that order.

Including the 2026 United Cup, this marks China’s third consecutive year participating in this event. However, many fans have modest expectations for this year’s squad, especially with Zheng Qinwen absent, which leaves the team without a consistently strong scorer. The Chinese team members are Zhang Zhizhen, Zhu Lin, Te Rigele, Wang Aoran, and You Xiaodi.

In contrast, other countries boast star-studded lineups. The United States, one of the favorites to win, features top-ranked singles players Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz, with Gauff also being a strong doubles competitor.

The representatives from the remaining national teams are as follows:

Poland — Iga Swiatek, Hubert Hurkacz

Greece — Maria Sakkari, Stefanos Tsitsipas

Japan — Naomi Osaka, Shintaro Mochizuki

Czech Republic — Katerina Siniakova, Jiri Lehecka

Germany — Anna-Lena Friedsam, Alexander Zverev

Switzerland — Belinda Bencic, Stan Wawrinka

Norway — Casper Ruud, Viktor Durasovic

United Kingdom — Emma Raducanu

Australia — Alex de Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis

France — Harmony Tan, Arthur Rinderknech

Netherlands — Arantxa Rus, Tallon Griekspoor

Argentina — Nadia Podoroska, Federico Coria

Belgium — Elise Mertens, David Goffin

Canada — Felix Auger-Aliassime, Vasek Pospisil

Italy — Jasmine Paolini, Lorenzo Sonego

Spain — Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut

Looking at the lineups from each country, nearly all feature their top singles players. China, Canada, and Belgium are grouped together, making it quite challenging for China to advance beyond the group stage and match last year’s quarterfinal achievement.

According to current championship odds, the United States leads with odds of 3.25 to 1. Italy and Poland follow closely with odds of 5 to 1. Additionally, Canada, Germany, and the UK are also considered strong contenders. In comparison, China, along with Argentina, Belgium, France, and Norway, sit at the bottom with odds of 51 to 1.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)