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BRISBANE, Aus. – First shot for Rafael Nadal in nearly a year, as he teams up with his (RETIRED) coach Marc Lopez in doubles.

He’s done that before – in Montreal, years ago, with retired coach Frances Roig. Except Roig was 41 and a lot more removed from the action. Still, they defeated Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic, much to Djokovic’s consternation.

The other news is that Félix Auger-Aliassime won’t be playing singles as the Canadian United Cup quest gets under way. It will be late, late, late addition Steven Diez.

WTA Tour – Sunday results

(Perth and Hong Kong are 13 hours ahead of EST; Brisbane is 15 hours ahead and Sydney is 16 hours ahead).

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Brisbane International
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Category: ATP Tour 250
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Dates: Dec. 31, 2023 – Jan. 7, 2024
Prize money: $739,945
Draws: S32 / D24

Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023
Final results

Singles, first round

Alexei Popyrin (AUS) def. Christopher O’Connell (AUS) 64 67 (5) 76 (4)

Alexander Shevchenko (RUS) def. Luca Van Assche (FRA) 63 62

Doubles, first round

Aslan Karatsev / Roman Safiullin (RUS) def. Andy Murray (GBR) / Holger Rune (DEN) 46 63 [10-5]
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) / Sebastian Korda (USA) def N.Sriram Balaji (IND) / Victor Vlad Cornea (ROU) 26 75 [10-4]
Max Purcell / Jordan Thompson (AUS) def. [WC] Marc Lopez / Rafael Nadal (ESP) 64 64
Ugo Humbert (FRA) / Ben Shelton (USA) def Matwe Middelkoop (NED) / Denys Molchanov (UKR) 64 76 (1)
Nicolas Barrientos (COL) / Rafael Matos (BRA) def Daniel Altmaier / Yannick Hanfmann (GER) 62 64

Qualifying, final round

(1st-round opponents in brackets)

[9] James Duckworth (AUS) def [2] Gregoire Barrere (FRA) 61 76 (2) (JJ Wolf)
Lukas Klein (SVK) def [11] Maxime Cressy (FRA) 46 76 (8) 64 ([6] Sebastian Baez)
[1] Tomas Machac (CZE) def [7] Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) 64 62 ([7] Tomas Martin Etcheverry)
[4] Alex Michelsen (USA) def [8] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 61 64 ([4] Ugo Humbert)
[5] Dominic Thiem (AUT) def [12] Giulio Zeppieri (ITA) 36 64 64 ([WC] Rafael Nadal)
Li Tu (AUS) def [3] Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) 63 76 (5) (Daniel Altmaier)

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United Cup
Location: Perth and Sydney, Australia
Category: ATP/WTA Mixed event
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Dates: Dec. 29 – Jan. 8, 2024
Prize money: $15,000,000
Draws: RRs

Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023
Final results

CAN 2, CHI 1 (Final)

1. Leylah Fernandez (CAN) def Daniela Seguel (CHI) 62 63
2. Nicolas Jarry (CHI) def Steven Diez (CAN) 75 64
3. Leylah Fernandez / Steven Diez (CAN) def Daniela Seguel / Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI) 75 46 [10-8]

USA 0, GBR 1 (Final)

1. Katie Boulter (GBR) def Jessica Pegula (USA) 57 64 64
2. Taylor Fritz (USA) def. Cameron Norrie (GBR) 76 (5) 64
3. Jessica Pegula / Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Katie Boulter / Neil Skupski (GBR)

CHN 1, SRB 2 (Final)

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) def Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) 63 62
2. Zheng Qinwen (CHN) def. Olga Danilovic (SRB) 64 62
3. Olga Danilovic / Novak Djokovic (SRB) def Zheng Qinwen / Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) 64 16 [10-6]

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Hong Kong Tennis Open
Location: Hong Kong
Category: ATP Tour 250
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Dates: Jan. 1-7, 2024
Prize money: $739,945
Draws: S28 / D16

Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023
Final results
Qualifying, first round

Otto Virtanen (FIN) def [2] Jaume Munar (ESP) 36 63 64
Vitaliy Sachko (UKR) def [4] Zsombor Piros (HUN) 63 62
Jan Choinski (GBR) def [5] Zizou Bergs (BEL) 62 62
Roman Andres Burruchaga (ARG) def. [7] Joris de Loore (BEL) 67 (5) 76 (6) 64
Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI) def. [8] Sho Shimabukuro (JPN) 62 64

[1] Taro Daniel (JPN) def. [WC] Tsz Fu Wong (HKG) 60 63
[3] Liam Broady (GBR) def. Aziz Dougaz (TUN) 63 63
[6] Terence Atmane (FRA) def [WC] Hong Kit Wong (HKG) 64 62