Zoe Hives to represent Australia in inaugural United Cup

The 26-year-old will don the green-and-gold alongside Nick Kygrios, Alex de Minaur, Ajla Tomljanovic, John Peers, Sam Stosur, Jason Kubler and Maddison Inglis for the new mixed team event.

The United Cup, an ATP-WTA event presented in partnership with Tennis Australia, will be played in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth from December 29 to January 8.

Australia will begin its campaign in Sydney after being drawn in Group D alongside fourth seeds Spain and Great Britain.

Each tie compromises two men's and two women's singles matches and one mixed doubles match.

The United Cup offers USD $15 million in prize money and up to 500 Pepperstone ATP and 500 WTA ranking points.

The field includes four of the women's current top 10 players (Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari) and four of the men's current top 10 (Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz).

"The playing group is very excited about the United Cup, and that's confirmed in the high quality and calibre of those who've committed to the event. We are delighted with the depth and breadth of the teams, and we can look forward to many exciting match ups and lots of entertaining tennis," United Cup tournament director Stephen Farrow said.

Hives has recently returned to action in the Tennis Victoria Premier League after a slight setback following her breakthrough Wimbledon campaign that saw her reach her the main draw and play her first top 10 opponent.

After competing in four ITF events in Europe after Wimbledon, Hives was forced to return home due to injures and a flare up of her Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) symptoms.

Hives has a protected singles ranking of 142. .

Have you tried The Courier's app? It can be downloaded here.