Four of the top six WTA players, world number 2 Iga Swiatek, number 3 Coco Gauff, world number 4 Jasmine Paolini and world number 6 Elena Rybakina, and four top eight players, world number 2 Alexander Zverev, number 4 Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud and Alex De Minaur will highlight the third edition United Cup which will be held at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney and at the RAC Arena in Perth from Friday 27 December 2024 to Sunday 5 January 2025.
The group stages will feature five top clashes.
Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Muchova
Iga Swiatek led Poland to the final at last year’s edition of the United Cup.
“Last year’s match brings a lot of emotions, but I still remember it as a positive one. It was pretty entertaining for sure”, said Swiatek.
Swiatek will face Czech player Karolina Muchova in a re-match of the 2023 three-set Roland Garros final.
The Polish player won her third consecutive title at Roland Garros and four WTA 1000 titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome. She became the first Polish player to win an Olympic medal with her bronze in Paris. She spent 32 weeks as the World number 1 moving her overall tally to 125 weeks (seventh on the all-time list). She has a singles record in Billie Jean King Cup of 12 wins to 2 defeats.
Poland held two championship points in a thrilling 2024 United Cup final against Germany. Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz will be in action again with the goal to win the United Cup Trophy. The Polish players will represent their team for the third consecutive year in this team tournament. They have reached at least the semifinals each time. Hurkacz has begun a new partnership with coaches Ivan Lendl and Nicholas Massu.
Taylor Fritz against Felix Auger Aliassime
Taylor Fritz will take Felix Auger Aliassime in a North American singles clash in Perth on 29 December.
Fritz will start his United Cup campaign after a great 2024 season during which he reached the championships matches at the US Open and at the Nitto ATP Finals losing to world number 1 Jannik Sinner both times. Fritz became the first American man to reach the US Open final since 2006, when Roddick lost to Roger Federer in four sets.
Fritz and Jessica Pegula were part of the US team, who won the inaugural edition of the United Cup in 2023.
“The year that we won, we could use our team’s depth a lot more to help us. Now a lot of more things can go wrong for the favourite team when it’s one singles match each and a deciding mixed doubles. I am looking forward to it”, said Fritz.
Fritz will be joined by Coco Gauff, who will play at the United Cup for the first time.
Auger Aliassime won the Olympic bronze medal in the mixed doubles and lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the bronze medal match in Paris 2024.
Fritz won his previous two head-to-head matches against Auger Aliassime in three sets.
Coco Gauff against Leylah Fernandez
Gauff won the 2023 US Open, the China Open and the WTA Finals in Riyadh in 2024. The US player has won 13 of her past 15 mathces and ended the 2024 season at world number 3 position in the WTA Ranking.
Gauff has become the first US player to win the WTA Finals since Serena Williams in 2014.
Fernandez reached the US Open finsl in 2021. The Canadian player is currently training in Australia in the build-up to the United Cup and the Australian Open.
Leylah Fernandez: “Gauff finished off the year with a title, so that gives a confidence boost to start the next season. I hope that it’s going to be good for the fans, and I think it’s also good preparation for me to see where my level is against these top players”.
Alexander Zverev against Zhang Zhizhen
Alexander Zverev leads United Cup defending champions Germany. Zvere ended a successful 2024 season as the world number 2. The German player will take on China’s Zhang Zhizhen.
Zverev played 90 matches of 23 tournaments in 2024. He won 69 matches setting a career-best. The German player started the season by winning the United Cup and reached semifinal at the Australian Open. He won the Rome Masters 1000 title for the second time in his career after dropping just one set during the whole tournament and reached the final at Roland Garros, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets.
Zverev claimed the seventh Masters 1000 title of his career in Paris Bercy beating Hugo Humbert in the championships match, lost to Arthur Fils in Hamburg final and reached the semifinal in Los Cabos, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, the quarter final in Indian Wells, Munich, at the US Open, Montreal, Vienna.
Zheng Zhizhen has hit a career-high of world number 31 after reaching the quarter finals at the Rome Masters 1000 and the third round at Roland Garros. He reached his first ATP Tour final in Hangzhou. He teamed up with Wang Xinyu to Olympic silver medal in the mixed doubles in Paris.
“Most Chinese people are watching table tennis or badminton at the Olympic Games, not tennis, but suddenly they are watching our final on TV. Right now, more people are knowing us and more people are trying to play, trying to learn. That’s really good”, said Zhang Zhizhen.
Zverev beat Zhang 6-4 6-3 in their only previous head-to-head match in Hamburg quarter finals.
Jasmine Paolini vs Belinda Bencic
Jasmine Paolini will face 2021 Olympic singles champion Belinda Bencic on Sunday 29 December 2024. Paolini won the WTA 1000 title in Dubai and reached back-to-back finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She won the Olympic doubles gold medal in Paris with Sara Errani. Paolini’s coach Renzo Furlan will captain the Italian team at the United Cup. Furlan was voted WTA Coach of the Year.
Bencic gave birth to her first child Bella last April. The Swiss player made her come-back six weeks ago and reached the WTA 125k in Angers.
Bencic leads 2-0 in her head-to-head matches against Paolini.
Group winners in Perth and Sydney will advance to the quarter finals, which will be held in Perth on New Year’s Day. Sydney will host the semifinals on 4 January. The final will be held on 5 January.
On day one Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina will face Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who won 50 matches last year.
Kazakhstan’s Alexander Schevchenko will take on Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta. The other clash on day one pits China against Brazil. After Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the tournament, the Chinese team will be represented by Gao Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen. Gao Xinyu will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. Zhang Zhizhen will take on Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in the men’s singles match.
