Coco Gauff made it perfectly clear that she didn't come to the United Cup just to participate as the American tennis star hopes to lead her nation to victory.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the previous two years, the world No. 3 started off her 2023 and 2024 seasons by winning the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland.
But for this year, the 20-year-old decided to do something differently and kick off her year at the United Cup.
In Group A in Peth, the United States will battle Croatia and Poland.
That means we will see a rematch of a Paris Olympics match between Gauff and Donna Vekic, which the 2023 US Open champion surprisingly lost.
"The hope is to win. It's really cool to play with Taylor. We're both coming off a good year. It will be our second time playing together, so hopefully we can do even better than the Olympics," the top-ranked American female tennis player noted.
Taylor Fritz hopes he and Gauff can deliver
The United States has already won one United Cup title - they won it all at the event in 2023.
ADVERTISEMENT
But that time, Gauff didn't play and the format was a bit different - every tie featured two men's and women's matches, as well as a mixed doubles clash.
Since, it has been reduced to three matches per tie.
"Now a lot more things can go wrong for the favoured team. It's just one match each and the deciding mixed doubles. I'm still excited to play. I'm glad Coco is here. Obviously we're a top team. Team events are always my favorite. It's a different kind of energy," Fritz said.
Besides the 2023 US Open champion and the top-ranked American male tennis player, the American team will also feature some other notable names - Jessica Pegula, Alycia Parks, Desirae Krawczyk, Rajeev Ram and Denis Kudla.
Heading into the United Cup, Gauff and Co. are definitely one of the top favorites to claim the title.
