Team USA usually brings one of the strongest line-ups to this competition and this year is no exception. The first nation trying to stop them will be Canada with its own young stars. As always, we here at LWOT will be predicting every match on day three, including Karolina Muchova vs Malene Helgo and Alexander Zverev vs Thiago Monteiro, but who will come out on top in the second match of Group A?
United Cup Day 3 Predictions: USA vs Canada
Coco Gauff vs Leylah Fernandez
Head-to-head: first meeting
Somewhat surprisingly, this pair haven’t played each other yet, or at least not in the pros as they did square off in an important match at the junior level in the semifinals at Roland Garros. A part of why the American team looks so strong here is the confidence that Coco Gauff must have got from winning the WTA Finals. She was almost unstoppable in the early days of her partnership with Matt Daly and now that she’s coming off a longer training block, can we expect even more? Probably.
Prediction: Gauff in 2
Taylor Fritz vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
Head-to-head: Fritz 2-0 Auger-Aliassime
Taylor Fritz finished runner-up in two massive events near the end of 2024 (ATP Finals and the US Open) and while he’s still quite distantly far away from the level of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, he’s quickly emerging as a sort of “best of the rest” figure. He should be an asset for the American team here and is the favorite to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian isn’t as good as he was two years ago (when he still lost to Fritz twice) and ended the last season injured. Might take him a while to regroup.
Prediction: Fritz in 2
Coco Gauff/Taylor Fritz vs Leylah Fernandez/Felix Auger-Aliassime
Head-to-head: first meeting
Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz played together at the Paris Olympics and ended up losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime (with Gabriela Dabrowski). While the Americans can also use Desirae Krawczyk, they’re most likely to rely on Gauff who’s been one of the best doubles players in the world besides all her singles success. She and Fritz seem really high on confidence at the moment after going deep in their respective year-end championships. That’s something Auger-Aliassime lacks, especially after losing to Borna Coric despite winning the first set of their match without losing a game.
Prediction: Gauff/Fritz in 3
