The 2025 United Cup is behind us so let’s recap what exactly happened and how the United States ended up winning the event.
Group Play
The 2025 United Cup featured six groups.
Group A
1. United States 2-0
2. Canada 1-1
3. Croatia 0-2
The United States dominated this group, winning both ties. Canada won one tie, while Croatia was beaten both times. As the top team, the US advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Group B
1. Poland 2-0
2. Czech Republic 1-1
3. Norway 0-2
In this group, we had the Polish team win both matches while the Czech Republic won one and Norway lost both. As the top team, Poland advanced, though the Czech team also advanced as one of the better second-placed teams.
Group C
1. Kazakhstan 2-0
2. Greece 1-1
3. Spain 0-2
In this group, we had Kazakhstan top the group with two wins while the Greek team had one win and one loss. Spain lost both matches and were eliminated immediately.
Group D
1. Italy 2-0
2. Switzerland 1-1
3. France 0-2
Here, we had Italy top the group while Switzerland had a 1-1 score and France lost both matches. Only Italy advanced to the next stage from this group.
Group E
1. Germany 2-0
2. China 1-1
3. Brazil 0-2
In this group, Germany topped the group with a 2-0 score. China had a 1-1 score, while Brazil lost both matches. Both Germany and China advanced, as the latter were one of the better second-placed teams.
Group F
1. Great Britain 1-1
2. Australia 1-1
3. Argentina 1-1
This was one of the more interesting groups, as all teams had a 1-1 score, though Great Britain ultimately ended up being the only team to advance to the next stage.
Knock-out stage
The knockout stages are fairly simple as they follow a well-established structure. First, we had the six first-placed teams and two best second-placed teams drawn into an eight-team quarter-final, which saw some interesting results.
Quarter-Finals
Kazakhstan vs Germany 2-1
Kazakhstan beat Germany 2-1, sending the reigning champions home. Elena Rybakina secured the first point by beating Laura Siegemund in two sets. Shevchenko beat Daniel Masur in three sets to secure the win, with the German doubles team only pulling back one point to make the scoreline a bit less embarrassing.
Poland vs Great Britain 3-0
Poland had no issues against Great Britain, beating them 3-0 easily. Hubert Hurkacz beat Billy Harris for the first point. Iga Swiatek secured the win after a massive comeback over Katie Boulter, and with the doubles match being largely meaningless, it was won by the Polish team as well.
United States vs China 3-0
In the third one, we saw the United States beat the Chinese team 3-0. Coco Gauff secured the first point by beating Shuai Zhang. Taylor Fritz added the winning point by beating Zhizhen Zhang, with the doubles team only cementing the win.
Czech Republic vs Italy 3-1
The final one was arguably the most interesting one. Italy played very well but could not overcome a relentless Czech team. Muchova secured the first point by beating Paolini in two sets. Then Machac beat Cobolli for the overall win, with the Italian doubles team only pulling out a win to make the scoreline less impressive.
Semi-Finals
Poland vs Kazakhstan 2-0
In the semi-finals, we saw Poland taking on Kazakhstan, and the Polish team had no issues. Swiatek beat Rybakina for the first point. Hurkacz secured the second point by beating Shevchenko, with the Polish doubles team only adding more.
United States vs Czech Republic 3-0
Similarly, the United States had no issues against the Czech Republic. First, there was Coco Gauff smashing Karolina Muchova in two sets for the first point. Then Fritz added a second against Machac, who was forced to retire at the end of the second set. Machac wasted match points in that match.
Finally, the doubles team only solidified the win further, proving that the United States team is arguably the best one in the competition.
Grand Final
USA vs Poland 2-0
In the grand final, we had the Polish team, which also stood in the final last year. Last year, it was the German team that proved better in a huge doubles match that saw Swiatek and Hurkacz come up short in a tight three-set battle.
This year, the Polish team went against the US team, which didn’t win last year but won the year before, in 2023. A huge battle was expected, and we indeed got it. In the first match, we saw Coco Gauff prove to be the MVP once more by beating Iga Swiatek in two sets, securing the first point.
That was the crucial match for the US team because Fritz had a really good head-to-head record against Hurkacz before their match. Even so, the match proved very tight, with Fritz only winning it in a third-set tiebreak 7-4. That was more than enough for the United States team to win the event once more after a one-year break.
