Coco Gauff Wants To Bring United Cup 'Back To U.S.' On Her Debut
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Coco Gauff is motivated to start the 2025 season by trying to win the United Cup in her first appearance at the team event.
The United Cup was first played during the opening week of the 2023 season. Perth and Sydney are the two host cities, giving fans outside Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide a chance to see some of the best players in the world.
There are many attractive elements to the United Cup, including players getting to represent their countries and ATP and WTA stars competing side by side in a format that includes women's singles, men's singles, and mixed doubles.
The United States won the first iteration of the tournament. Its team included Jessica Pegula, Taylor Fritz, and Frances Tiafoe. That strength in depth proved too strong for the other teams participating in the event.
Germany secured last year's United Cup title. In the deciding mixed doubles against Poland, a thrilling contest went down to the wire, but Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund dramatically overcame Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz.
Coco Gauff played at the ASB Classic in Auckland during the opening week of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. She won the title on both occasions, including beating Elina Svitolina in a high-quality final last year.
Many would have expected Gauff to stay at the tournament where she enjoyed such success. However, the 20-year-old has decided that starting the new season by playing in a team environment might suit her better.
Losing Gauff was a significant blow for the ASB Classic, but the organizers gave a wild card to the 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep. The 2021 Open winner Emma Raducanu has also committed to playing, giving the tournament some star quality.
In a video for the United Cup social media pages, Gauff outlined how the United Cup is a unique event, her excitement about exploring Perth after the U.S. team was drawn to play there, and her determination to bring the United Cup home.
"I think the United Cup is such a unique event and there is no other event like it in tennis and kind of in any sport now I'm thinking about it. I think it's really cool to bring men's sport and women's sport on an equal scale and equal competition, I think that's something really exciting. Hopefully, it can appeal to tennis fans but also non-tennis fans as well."
"It's not often on tour we get to experience new cities for the first time. I can't remember the last time I've been to a city for the first time. So, I'm really excited to go to Perth and learn more about Western Australia in general. I've never been to Western Australia, so super excited to get out there and experience something new."
"This will be my first time playing at a team event with the men as well. Obviously, I played mixed doubles with Taylor (Fritz) at the Olympics as well, so I'm looking forward to improving that with him, and he's had an incredible season this year."
"I think we have a strong team. I know we won the first edition of the United Cup. So, hopefully, we can bring that cup back to the United States."
