Live updates: Brisbane International day one, United Cup day three

• Czech Republic 1-0 Norway
• Germany 0-0 Brazil
• Italy vs Switzerland
• USA vs Canada

Brisbane International

• Maddison Inglis vs Maya Joint
• O'Connell/Thompson vs Lehečka/Menšík

We're underway in the West, as German veteran Laura Siegemund, the world number 21, takes on Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, the world number 17.

Should be a good match first up over there in Perth between these two women.

Siegemund has won three of the four matches these two have played against each other though, dating back to 2013.

Their last encounter saw Siegemund run out winner in straight sets during the Billie Jean King Cup.

Not good news for baby Hewitt in Canberra, who has dropped the first set in a tie breaker to Brandon Holt.

It was a wild set for the Canberra native, who had a chance to serve out the set at 5-3, was broken, had to save set points early in the tie break, gave up a couple, threatened to smash his racquet a couple of times and ended up losing it after a marathon tie break 11-9.

Looks very windy in Canberra, so not easy for either man, and the stats kinda illustrated that, with low serving percentages all around.

Hewitt will be kicking himself though - he only converted two of the six break point attempts he had in the set, while Holt was two-from-two.

-with AAP

Those of you with us last night would have enjoyed seeing Alex de Minaur power past Tomás Etcheverry in straight sets.

It made a mockery of the horror run of injuries that hampered his final half of 2024, making de Minaur confident his injury woes are behind him.

In fact, he said he was feeling in the best shape he had ever been ahead of the Australian Open.

De Minaur had been plagued by a hip injury in his breakout 2024 season suffered during his Wimbledon run in July.

The 25-year-old had risen as high as world number six after reaching the second week of every slam, including quarterfinals of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

"It's definitely the best I felt since Wimbledon," de Minaur said on Saturday.

"Very happy with how the body's moving, how it's feeling.

"It's been a long time coming but it's feeling the best shape it has been in a very, very long time."

De Minaur is primed to enjoy a rich vein of form heading into next month's AO, having been the only Australian to claim a victory against Argentina in their first United Cup match.

Australia's number one remained hindered by the troublesome hip while playing in the Davis Cup in November, but he now feels the worst is over having returned to Australia.

"I was extremely pleased with my level. Being the first match of the new season, you never know what to expect," de Minaur said.

"Tommy, he's a quality opponent, a very tough opponent, so I was happy in the way I executed today from the very start until the end.

"It's a very special court and a court that I love playing on, so I was very happy to be able to play the match today."

Argentina secured the 2-1 win thanks to a strong performance from Etcheverry and Maria Carlé against Matt Ebden and Ellen Perez.

Australia, captained by Lleyton Hewitt, return to the court on New Year's Day when they face Great Britain.

Read more here.

The Canberra International gets underway tomorrow, but today there is qualifying taking place in the nation's capital, and Cruz Hewitt is in action against world number 198 Brandon Holt.

We'll keep you updated with his progress today too.

The men's singles rubber is underway now in Sydney, with Tomáš Macháč taking on world number six Casper Ruud.

Macháč is no mug, sitting at 25 in the world, but Ruud does hold a 2-0 head-to-head record between the pair, including a four set victory at the 2023 Australian Open.

The other was on clay in the final of the 2024 Geneva event.

As I've already mentioned, it's pretty hot in Brisbane today - great prep for the Australian summer of tennis.

Nick Kyrgios is out doing some training, with a huge number of people crowding around his practice court.

He just asked if anyone had an ice towel out there, given the sticky temperatures, and someone obliged, bringing him one out.

He looked in fine form, chatting with the crowd and appearing very relaxed - it's great to see.

As expected, Karolína Muchová completed her victory against Malene Helgø, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour, 17 minutes.

That means the Czech Republic has a 1-0 lead in its tie with Norway.

Novak Djokvovic is out sight-seeing this morning — we'll get to that later — so it's a relatively quiet start on this Sunday morning.

The festivities kick off with Ashleigh Barty partnering with Frances Tiafoe to take on Ons Jabeur and Pat Rafter in an exhibition mixed doubles match.

After that, things get serious, with qualifier Maddison Inglis taking on wild card Maya Joint in the women's singles.

Karolína Muchová is already in action in Sydney, and is flying through her match against Norway's Malene Helgø in their women's singles rubber.

She won the first set 6-2 and is well on the way to giving the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead.

It's not a surprise to be honest, Helgø is ranked outside the top 400, while Muchová is ranked 22 and has a career high inside the top six.

Oh, and we're using Czech Republic instead of Czechia because that is what the tournament officials are using.

Good morning everyone and welcome to Brisbane, where the weather is a steamy 29 degrees and the humidity is up at 70 per cent.

Today is the first day of action in the Brisbane International, while it all continues in the United Cup, with a number of interesting ties across Sydney and Perth.

We'll bring you updates across all three locations today as and when it happens.