Gauff, Fritz to Lead Team USA into United Cup Play
Event in Australia Begins New Tennis Season
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2024 – Tennis Channel, its app, website and second-network T2 will be the exclusive U.S. homes of the United Cup competition December 26-January 5. The annual tournament takes place in Sydney and Perth, Australia, and features a top-seeded United States team led by Coco Gauff (World No. 3 singles) and Taylor Fritz (World No. 4 singles). Coverage begins Thursday, Dec. 26, at 9 p.m. ET when Spain plays Kazakhstan. The American team plays Canada Saturday, Dec. 28, at 4 a.m. ET. The United States’ second matchup will be against Croatia, Monday, Dec. 30, at 9 p.m. ET.
Now in its third year, the United Cup showcases 18 countries separated into six groups of three each. Every team plays against the others in its group, with the six group winners and two best second-place finishers advancing to the single-elimination quarterfinals. Rosters consist of top-ranked men’s and women’s players from each nation. Every matchup features a men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed-doubles contest, each worth one point. The country that wins two points wins the head-to-head competition.
Tennis Channel’s United Cup coverage generally begins at 6:30 p.m. ET most evenings (a daily schedule can be found here: Tennis Channel Schedule, while a complete United Cup session schedule can be found on the event’s website: United Cup Schedule). The first semifinal will air Friday, Jan. 3, at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the second on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 1:30 a.m. ET. The United Cup championship matchup will begin Sunday, Jan. 5, at 1:30 a.m. ET.
Hall of Famer Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin) will offer United Cup analysis on Tuesday, Jan. 31, during T2’s weekly Women’s Day coverage. Other former professional players on the Tennis Channel and T2 on-air teams for the event are Chanda Rubin (@Chanda_Rubin), Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone), Coco Vandeweghe (@CocoVandey), Jan-Michael Gambill (@JanmikeGambill) and Jason Goodall. Announcers Abigail Johnson (@abigailtennis), Gill Gross (@Gill_Gross) and Dani Klupenger (@DaniKlup) round out the channel’s United Cup team, with Klupenger joining Austin for the Women’s Day telecast.
Next to Gauff and Fritz, Danielle Collins (World No. 9, singles) is another top-10 star for the United States team in Australia this year. The three will share the roster with Desirae Krawczyk, Denis Kudla and Robert Galloway. The United States won the inaugural United Cup in 2023, with a team that included Fritz, Krawczyk and Kudla.
Other top-ranked stars competing in the United Cup this year include Iga Swiatek (Poland), Alexander Zverev (Germany), Jasmine Paolini (Italy), Casper Ruud (Norway), Qinwin Zheng (China), Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) and Alex de Minaur (Australia).
In addition to the United States, there are 17 countries competing for the 2025 United Cup: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
