Coco Gauff hasn’t even cooled from the WTA Finals, yet her 2026 itinerary is already locked in — and it begins where her season caught fire last January. The United Cup, once the tournament she routinely sidestepped for Auckland, has become her favored launchpad. One title run — capped by a clean, nerveless win over Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 6-4 — will do that to a player’s habits.
Gauff Chooses Continuity Over Comfort
For years, Gauff opened in Auckland, a gentle step into the season. But 2025 proved she no longer needs gentle. She swept through the mixed-team event on debut, beat the world No.1 in the final, and never played another tournament before reaching Melbourne. The formula worked; she’s repeating it.
She’ll return from January 2–11 as the lone headline act in an otherwise modest U.S. women’s line-up. Varvara Lepchenko joins her, a reminder that American depth won’t quite match the star wattage Gauff brings. The men remain anchored by Taylor Fritz, flanked by Mackenzie McDonald and the dependable doubles duo of Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Christian Harrison.
It is, in effect, Gauff’s team to set the tone. And she tends to treat responsibility as jet fuel.
Osaka Rewrites Her January Map
If Gauff represents continuity, Naomi Osaka brings novelty. Japan will make its United Cup debut in 2026, and Osaka — twice a champion in Melbourne — has chosen the event as her own starting gun.
It’s a shift with real intrigue. Osaka usually eases into the year in Auckland, where she led the 2024 final before an abdominal injury forced her retirement against Clara Tauson. This time she links up with Shintaro Mochizuki, giving Japan a marquee presence the event hasn’t seen before.
After maternity leave, stop-start momentum, and flashes of the old clean-striking menace, Osaka playing a pressure-tested mixed-team week feels less like an experiment and more like a statement.
Swiatek Gets Straight to Work
Iga Swiatek, whose schedule is typically calibrated with surgical care, locked in her United Cup return weeks ago. It will mean early reps, limited rest, and exhibitions sprinkled through Christmas — a brisk approach for a player whose Januarys have sometimes taken a match or two to warm.
Her presence also clarifies the absentees: Jessica Pegula will open elsewhere, as will Amanda Anisimova, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina. Some may skip week one entirely to protect a shortened off-season. The Australian summer now resembles a choose-your-own-physics puzzle: rest too long, or show up undercooked.
Star Power, With Stakes Attached
Tournament director Stephen Farrow certainly isn’t underselling the field.
“The entry list for the United Cup this summer is world class. We’re excited to welcome five of the world’s top 10 men and four of the world’s top 10 women in 2026,” he said.
“It will be fascinating to see where the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Jasmine Paolini end up competing. With AO 2019 and 2021 champion Naomi Osaka also leading Team Japan in its United Cup debut, the star power in 2026 is undeniable.”
He’s not wrong. The event was built for this kind of collision — champions taking their first swings of the year, rivals measuring each other’s winter gains, and the Australian Open looming like a finishing line no one has yet started running toward.
Gauff returns with purpose. Osaka returns with curiosity swirling around her. Swiatek returns because she always wants the work. January rarely tells the whole story, but this year, it may speak louder than usual.
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