The United Cup starts today with two matches in Perth of Western Australia.
This mixed WTA and ATP 500 event is played in Sydney and Perth. China will take on Brazil in the evening session in Perth.
Qinwen Zheng was supposed to play for China but the world number one just withdrew from the United Cup. That is a big blow for China’s opportunities to reach the playoff of the United Cup. Xinyu Gao will replace Zheng in the Chinese lineup. Gao is ranked at the 175th spot in the world. The 27-year-old won 35 and lost 19 matches across all tours in 2024. Her last entry on the WTA tour was in Hong Kong late October. Gao has absolutely nothing to lose in this match since she is expected to lose.
Beatrice Haddad Maia is ranked at the 17th position in the world. The 28-year-old from Sao Paulo won 36 and lost 27 matches on the WTA tour in 2024. She has won four titles in her career, one of them was last season. The left-handed Haddad Maia won the WTA 500 Hana Bank Open (Seoul, South Korea) in September. Beatrice is hugely favoured to win this matchup versus Gao.
This will be the second match ever between these two players. Zhang got the better than Monteiro at the ATP 1000 Rome Masters last season. Zhang won the match, played on clay, in two straight sets. Zhang is ranked at the 45th spot in the world. The 28-year-old Zhizhen Zhang from Shanghai, won 25 and lost 29 matches in 2024. Zhang reached one final last season but lost it (to Cilic at the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open).
Thiago Monteiro is currently ranked at the 109th position in the world. His best-ever ranking was at 61st spot back in 2022. The Fortaleza native won 13 and lost 13 matches on the ATP Tour last season. Last season was rough on him with some injuries and no consistency on the court. Monteiro spent a lot of time on the ITF challenger tour in 2024.
