United Cup, Day 2 Preview: Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff run it back for the U.S.

The first day of 2026 is in the books. While you may have been sleeping, Argentina defeated Spain, and Greece defeated Japan, in United Cup in Perth.

If this a sign of things to come, the season will be full of surprises—or at least things that are surprising to me. I expected Naomi Osaka to beat Maria Sakkari, and the two Spanish singles players, Jaume Munar and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, to beat their Argentine opponents, Sebastian Baez and Solana Sierra. Those things did not happen.

Read more: Naomi Osaka carries off-season illness into United Cup debut

Fortunately, there’s no time to linger over botched predictions. There are twice as many matches on Day 2, as United Cup continues in Perth and begins in Sydney. Here’s a look at what’s ahead—and another stab at picking the winners.

📲🖥️ Stream the 2026 United Cup on the Tennis Channel App!

Who’s Playing Who?

Sydney

Day Session: Belgium vs. China (10:30 A.M. local; 6:30 P.M. ET)

Evening Session: Australia vs. Norway (5:30 P.M. local; 1:30 A.M. ET)

Perth

Day Session: France vs. Switzerland (10:00 A.M. local; 9:00 P.M. ET)

Evening Session: USA vs. Argentina (5:00 P.M local, 4:00 A.M. ET)

Who to Watch

Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs: I’m not sure what kind of crowd Belgium vs. China is going to draw at 10:30 in the morning in Sydney. But the two Belgian singles players, Mertens and Bergs, both give full value to paying customers with their competitive qualities alone. Mertens we’ve known about for years, but the 26-year-old, 42nd-ranked Bergs raised his profile considerably with his Davis Cup performance a few months ago in Italy. He lost to Flavio Cobolli in the year’s most dramatic tiebreaker, and one of its best matches. But with his backwards baseball hat, stomping gait, and flat ground-stroke attack, he brought back pleasant memories of another no-frills warrior, David Ferrer.

Mertens will play Zhu Lin; Bergs will play Zhang Zhizhen.

Maya Joint: As 2024 began, Joint was a teenager from Michigan who was planning to play college tennis for the Texas Longhorns. Two years later, she’s an Australian pro with a pair of WTA titles, a No. 32 ranking, and the promise of more. Like Osaka, she’s a player who got away from us—us as in the United States. While she grew up in the midwest, her father is Michael Joint, a former squash pro from Australia, and she chose to play for his nation and train Down Under.

Whatever flag she flies, Joint is a interesting in part for how much she doesn’t look like a pro athlete—until she puts a superbly timed, sometimes-leaping wallop on the ball. Unfortunately, she has been sick this week and missed practice sessions. Here’s hoping she’s well enough to start her 2026 against Norway’s Malene Helgo, in front of what I’m assuming will be a raucous pro-Aussie crowd.

Alex de Minaur vs. Casper Ruud: This is all-elite singles matchup—De Minaur and Ruud are always hovering around the Top 10. It’s also a rare one: They’re close to the same age (26 and 27), and have been on tour for nearly a decade together. But this is this is just their second meeting since 2019.

Belinda Bencic: Last year she made a semi-miraculous climb back into the Top 15, not long after having her first child. What does the 28-year-old, who was once seen as a likely future Slam winner, have in store for an encore? She’ll start 2026 against Léolia Jeanjean of France.

Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff: They teamed up to win the United Cup for the U.S. last year, going a combined 11-1 over the course of five matches. They’ll start their defense against a (possibly gassed) Argentine team that will be coming in without a day of rest after its win over Spain.

Beyond United Cup, this feels like an important moment for Gauff and Fritz. She’ll show off the fruits of her serve work in the off-season, while he’ll start the season as a 28-year-old—officially veteran status. Fritz may seem like he just arrived among the elite, but how many more chances will he realistically have to win a Slam?

Fritz opens against Baez, Gauff against Sierra.

Who’s going to win?

Belgium d. China 2-1

Australia d. Norway 2-1

Switzerland d. France 2-1

USA d. Argentina 3-0