United Cup Day 3 preview: Gauff, U.S. take on formidable Canada squad

This was Coco Gauff’s first Christmas away from her Florida home, but the cuddly quokkas helped ease the sting.

Perhaps not as popular as their marsupial cousins -- koalas, kangaroos and wallabies -- the quokkas of Rottnest Island are cat-sized and pretty darn cute. Only a ferry ride (or a quicker lift by helicopter) away from Perth, the 20-year-old Gauff visited them along with her parents and younger brothers Codey and Cameron in advance of Team USA’s opening United Cup match on Sunday against 1-0 Canada.

“It’s great to bring my family here,” Gauff told Tennis Australia. “They’re on Christmas break, so for them to be able to see a different part of the world is cool.”

United Cup: Scores| Draws| Order of Play

What’s really cool is that Gauff’s squad is the top seed in the 18-team, mixed-gender event. She and compatriot Taylor Fritz are the only two singles players from the same nation to be ranked among the PIF Top 10.

Fritz was on board for the inaugural United Cup in 2023, when the United States took the title with a team that also featured Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe. The Americans won 13 of their final 14 matches -- against Great Britain, Poland and Italy -- and Fritz went 7-for-8. 

“It’s actually my third time in Perth as I played ATP Cup here in 2020, so I’m pretty familiar with the city, and I’m happy to be back in Perth," Fritz said. “Coco and I got some experience playing mixed doubles at the Olympics, so hopefully that will help us.”

And they’re both coming off torrid finishes in 2024. Fritz reached the ATP Finals championship match before falling to Jannik Sinner. Gauff defeated Zheng Qinwen in the three-hour barnburner championship match at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

After a few weeks off, Fritz put in training blocks in Miami and Los Angeles. He’s 27 now and, believe it or not, it’s his 11^th season as a professional. 

“As I’ve gotten a bit older, it’s not so much about absolutely killing myself as much as I can in the offseason,” the World No.4 said. “It’s about training but still feeling recharged and ready to go and very motivated to come back out and be ready to play in Australia.

I feel like it's kind of about finding the balance between working as much as I can but still not almost burning myself out.”

Gauff, meanwhile, hopes to repeat her success last year Down Under -- and maybe exceed it. She won the title in Auckland and advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open before falling to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka. The scoreline was 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Why did she decide to play United Cup for the first time?

“I wanted to play a higher level of competition and also a team competition,” Gauff said. “I had a lot of fun with the Olympics. The season’s already so much by ourselves that it’s nice to mix it up.”

Here's a brief look at Sunday’s matches -- four United Cup ties and eight main-draw collisions in Brisbane.

Sydney

Group B: Czech Republic vs. Norway

Start time: (10:30 a.m. local, 6:30 p.m. ET)

[8] Karolina Muchova (CZE) vs [15] Malene Helgo (NOR)
[8] Tomas Machac (CZE) vs [15] Casper Ruud (NOR)
[8] Karolina Muchova (CZE) / Tomas Machac (CZE) vs [15] Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) / Casper Ruud (NOR)

Daniel Vacek was a formidable pro, winning 25 doubles titles -- including three Grand Slams with partner Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The Czech Republic captain says watching from the sidelines is hard on the nerves.

“It’s much more difficult to be a captain or coach than a player because you have to deal sometimes with very unstable individuals,” Vacek told reporters, laughing as he said it. “No, it’s completely different. It’s very nice to have the young players around, and it’s very nice that I can pass on some of the experiences that I have managed to get over the years.”

Muchova, who has struggled with injuries for much of her career, finally got healthy midway through 2024 after nine months away from tennis -- and the results were spectacular. She got to the final in Palermo, and then won 14 of her last 17 matches, at the US Open, the Beijing 1000 and Ningbo.

Muchova and Helgo have never played.

Ruud is sitting at No.6 in the world -- one of the four ATP Tour Top 10 playing United Cup -- and coming off a sturdy 51-25 season. He won titles in Geneva and Barcelona and beat Carlos Alcaraz on the way to the semifinals at the Nitto ATP Finals. His victim in the Geneva final? Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, but only by a 7-5 6-3 score. Ruud leads the head-to-head 2-0.

Group D: Italy vs. Switzerland

Start time: (5:30 p.m. local, 1:30 a.m. ET)

[4] Flavio Cobolli (ITA) vs [16] Dominic Stricker (SUI)
[4] Jasmine Paolini (ITA) vs [16] Belinda Bencic (SUI)
[4] Sara Errani (ITA) / Andrea Vavassori (ITA) vs [16] Belinda Bencic (SUI) / Dominic Stricker (SUI)

Italy is on a roll in team competition. 

The women won the Billie Jean King Cup title a little over one month ago in Malaga, Spain, and then the men followed through by taking the Davis Cup crown.

Does Italy’s United Cup captain feel pressure to complete the triple crown?

“No,” said Renzo Furlan. “Every competition is different. We are very happy for what we did in 2024, and we are motivated to do well day by day. We’ll see what’s going on.”

What’s going on is Paolini. She’s 0-2 against Bencic, but that was before the 28-year-old had the season of her life, reaching the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and finishing the year at No.4 -- 26 spots higher than her previous year-end best.

The men’s match features Flavio Cobolli and Dominic Stricker, at 22, two of the more dynamic young players. In fact, their only meeting came two years ago at the ATP Tour’s Next Gen Finals, with the Italian coming out on top.

“I think we can do great things in this competition,” Cobolli said. “We are happy to start. We are also ready to go.”

So is Switzerland after defeating France 2-1 on Saturday. Bencic and Stricker won the decisive mixed doubles match.

“We really came out firing,” Bencic said. “We played the first time together, but I really felt like the vibes were there, we were understanding each other on the court.”

Perth

Group E: Germany vs. Brazil

Start time: (10 a.m. local, 9 p.m. ET)

[11] Laura Siegemund (GER) vs [13] Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)
[11] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs [13] Thiago Monteiro (BRA)
[11] Laura Siegemund (GER) / Alexander Zverev (GER) vs [13] Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) / Rafael Matos (BRA)

Seeded No.16 out of 18 teams a year ago, Germany raced through the field and took the second edition of the United Cup. It was a stunning upset, led by Zverev, who won eight of 10 matches.

And while three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber played the singles matches, it was Laura Siegemund who was the biggest contributor on the women’s side, teaming with Zverev to win their last three mixed matches -- against Greece, Australia and, in the finals, Italy.

Germany comes in this year seeded No.11, and it’s Siegemund in the singles role. She holds a surprising 3-1 edge over Haddad Maia, who comes in ranked No. 13 -- 67 spots ahead of Siegemund.

Zverev has beaten Monteiro the two previous times they’ve met.

Brazil is in a must-win situation after losing to China 3-0 on Friday. Haddad Maia was upset by Gao Xinyu, a late substitute for Zheng Qinwen.

Group A: USA vs. Canada

Start time: (5 p.m. local, 4 p.m. ET)

[1] Coco Gauff (USA) vs [7] Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
[1] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [7] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
[1] Coco Gauff (USA) / Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [7] Leylah Fernandez (CAN) / Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)

The head-to-heads and the rankings suggest the Americans have the advantage, and there’s also another factor in play: vengeance.

Fritz and Gauff paired in the mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics and reached the quarterfinals -- only to lose to Canada’s Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski.

“I think we’re all pumped up to play regardless if it’s Canada or whoever,” Gauff told reporters. “I think we all want to win. It’s not an easy start to the first match of the year, playing Leylah and Felix.

“At the Olympics we actually lost to Team Canada. Hopefully we can get a little bit of revenge for that.”

Canada got off to a good start Saturday with a 2-1 win over Croatia. Auger-Aliassime and Fernandez teamed to win the pivotal match.

“We’re both familiar with these competitions,” Auger-Aliassime said. “There's a lot of matches to play, and you need to stay calm through it all, through the roller coasters.”

Fernandez defeated Olympic silver singles medalist Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-3. The match against Gauff is another early opportunity to assess where her level is.

“It’s super important,” Fernandez said. “I feel very lucky to be part of this group. Coco and Donna, they're great players. To start off the year playing against them is going to be a great way to see what I need to improve in the next couple weeks leading up to the AO.”

More WTA action in Australia gets underway

Brisbane International

Play begins Sunday with a marquee-laden mixed doubles exhibition. Patrick Rafter, for whom the arena is named, will partner with Ons Jabeur opposite three-time major champion Ashleigh Barty and Frances Tiafoe.

There are eight WTA main-draw matches scheduled:

• [Q] Maddison Inglis (AUS) vs [WC] Maya Joint (AUS) 
• Marie Bouzkova (CZE) vs [WC] Talia Gibson (AUS) 
• Ashlyn Krueger (USA) vs Maya Uchijima (JPN) 
• Elina Avanesyan (ARM) vs Rebecca Sramkova (SVK) 
• Anna Blinkova vs [Q] Sara Bejlek (CZE) 
• Magda Linette (POL) vs McCartney Kessler (USA) 
• Kamilla Rakhimova vs Suzan Lamens (NED) 
• Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) vs Renata Zarazua (MEX) 

Auckland ASB Classic

The 32-player draw is set and main-draw play begins Monday.

The eight seeds are, in order, Madison Keys, Elise Mertens, Amanda Anisimova, Lulu Sun, Clara Tauson, Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka and Katie Volynets.