Americans in action on ‘The Land Down Under’! Coco Gauff is all set to make her debut at the United for Team USA alongside this year’s US Open finalist, Taylor Fritz. Both these tennis stars were recently spotted visiting the Rottnest Island in cool summer outfits ahead of their 2025 United Cup campaign in Perth. Who will they face in their first battle, though? Well, Team USA is all set to take on Canada on December 29! Apart from Gauff and Fritz, the 31-year-old star, Danielle Collins is also set to take part in this mega mixed-team event. What were her motivations, though, for putting her hands up to play at the 2025 United Cup?

Well, after losing her second-round match at the 2024 AO, we saw Danielle Collins announcing that she’d retire at the end of the season to start a family. However, then a few months later, she made an announcement saying that she was currently dealing with some health challenges, including an endometriosis diagnosis, that hampered her plans to start a family. With that, Danielle Collins also assured her fans that, “The Danimal story has not reached its conclusion. I will be back on tour in 2025…The only guarantee for now will be some more epic matches.“

So, are heading for some epic matches at this year’s United Cup? Well, we’ll wait and watch for the ‘Danimal’ show then! However, talking about the real reasons behind her participation in this event during the press conference at the 2025 United Cup, Collins said, “Yeah, I mean, after Olympics, we just had to get the fam back together. We had a good run there, had a great time with the same crew. It was a no-brainer after talking to everybody about coming back this year and kicking it off here in Perth.” 

For those who are unaware, Danielle Collins was forced to retire from her QF match against Iga Swiatek at the Paris Olympics. Reasons for her retirement in the middle of that high-voltage clash? Well, as per the reports, the American cramped and went into convulsions because of dehydration and exhaustion after competing in extremely hot conditions in Paris. However, that story is over now and Danielle Collins is keen to make it count this time around for her nation. She also said that she’s “enjoying hanging out” with the others in the squad and she looked very excited to take part in this event.

Danielle Collins had a great start to the 2024 season! She won the Miami Open and Charleston Open in quick succession. However, after that, she failed to carry forward that title-winning run in her next few tournaments. Despite this massive downfall, American tennis legend, Andy Roddick recently heaped praise on Collins for her incredible run during that phase. American tennis fans are now keeping their fingers crossed to witness a similar run from Danielle Collins in Australia. What are her teammates, Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz saying about their chances in the 2025 United Cup, though?

“The hope is to win” – Danielle Collins’ teammate Coco Gauff looks quite optimistic about their chances at the United Cup

Team USA won this title in 2023 and then Germany took it in 2024! Who will win it in 2025? Team USA? Well, American superstar, Coco Gauff was the flag bearer for them at the Paris Olympics. However, it didn’t go as per her plans at that time. So, it’s now high time to deliver for her nation on this big stage! Speaking about representing her nation at United Cup, Coco Gauff said, “This will be my first time playing the United Cup so I’m super excited to kick off the year in Australia. It’s always an honor to represent my country. It’s a really, cool event. I had a lot of fun playing mixed doubles at the Olympics so I kinda want to do that again.“

Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins have already made their intentions pretty clear. It seems they haven’t just come here to participate in this tournament, they hope to lead their nation to clinch their second United Cup title. What did Taylor Fritz say about this tournament, though? “I’m looking forward to it. [The format] has changed a bit over the years; the year that we won, we could use our team’s depth a lot more to help us. Now a lot more things can go wrong for the favorite team when it’s just one [singles] match each and a deciding mixed doubles. So I’m still excited to play. I’m glad that Coco’s here this year.“

What are Coco Gauff’s thoughts on teaming up with someone like Taylor Fritz? “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,” said Gauff. Do you think Team USA can win it this time at the United Cup?