Sydney, Oct 11 : World No. 4 Coco Gauff will make her United Cup debut for Team USA alongside world No.7 and US Open finalist Taylor Fritz at the mixed team event, scheduled from December 27 to January 5.

A total of 18 countries, featuring up to three men and up to three women, will compete across Perth and Sydney. Each city will host nine teams each -- three groups of three countries competing in a round-robin format.

The American duo will join Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, China's Zheng Qinwen and Norway's Casper Ruud, who have all committed to the third edition of the tournament in September.

'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 honour 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.

"I've never been to other parts of Australia, other than Melbourne. I don't know what city we're going to play in yet but I'm super excited to go whether it's Perth or Sydney," said Gauff.

The unique team environment that the United Cup offers is a significant motivation for Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime to line up for Team Canada again in 2025.

'I want to play United Cup 2025 because it's such a fun team experience. I love being part of a team... I get to see a little bit more of the men's side of the team and also how they think on court, I get to pick their brains a little bit. I also think the interaction between all of us , we grew up together so it's good to have that moment to catch up," said Fernandez, a US Open finalist in 2021.

Auger-Aliassime agrees, 'It's a great way to start the year. I've had great success playing for my country and mixing up with Leylah, is always good. I love her energy, I love her game so it's going to be a lot of fun. It's honestly my favourite thing, some of my favourite weeks on tour playing as part of a team," he said.

World No.3 Alexander Zverev, who helped guide Team Germany to a memorable comeback win over Poland to secure the second edition of the United Cup, used the event to set up a stellar season, including deep runs at the Grand Slams and the Roland Garros final.

The 27-year-old, who holds 22 ATP singles titles, is looking forward to making his third appearance at the tournament.

"We are so pleased to see Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff line up for Team USA for the first time alongside US Open finalist Taylor Fritz. Germany's world No.3 Alexander Zverev, the two-time Grand Slam finalist and Tokyo Olympics gold medallist, always brings the energy to the United Cup and no doubt the defending champions will be raring to go for the first week of the new year," United Cup tournament director Stephen Farrow said.

"We are also excited to welcome Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime back to the event in 2025. The Canadian fans turned out in droves earlier this year and we look forward to seeing them in their country colours again to support the team's next campaign," he added.

Participation for the first 16 teams in the United Cup is subject to players committing by the tournament's entry deadline of October 16. The remaining two teams will be decided after the second qualification date of November 19.

Ten countries will qualify for the United Cup via the five highest-ranked men and five highest-ranked women entered based on their ATP and WTA rankings. Eight teams will qualify according to the best combined ranking of the highest-ranked men's and women's players from the same country.

The official draw will be held on October 21 and will determine where each country will play the group stage.

Group winners in each city advance to the quarterfinals, with one quarterfinal spot in each city awarded to the best runner-up in that city. Winners will progress to the semifinals and final, to be played in Sydney.

/IANS