Coco Gauff vs Iga Swiatek Prediction United Cup Tennis Picks 1/5/25

Coco Gauff stretched her winning record over Karolina Muchova to 4-0 as the USA breezed past Czechia to reach a second United Cup final.

The women's singles match in the tie lasted 87 minutes and took 17 games to decide. In the victory, Gauff hit eight aces and four double faults. She landed 76% of first serves and won 73% of first-serve points (38/52). 

Gauff won 31% of second-serve points (5/16) and saved eight of nine break points.

The former US Open champion won half of her return games, tallying 52% of return points (28/54) and converting four out of eight break points in the match.

The 2023 champions possess the highest-ranked combination in their team of Gauff and Taylor Fritz, and the 20-year-old has taken care of business in singles, winning all of her four singles matches. Gauff also won two mixed doubles matches in the group stage.

Iga Swiatek Preview

For the second tie in a row, Iga Swiatek was the heroine for Team Poland. The 23-year-old confirmed her country's progress into Sunday's United Cup final after beating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Poland led 1-0 after Hubert Hurkacz won the opening tie. But given Rybakina's winning head-to-head record against Swiatek, the tie was far from over. 

Rybakina had a strong start to the match and led 5-3 in the first set. However, the errors started to creep in and the former Wimbledon champion lost all the momentum she had as she allowed Swiatek back into the contest. 

Swiatek won the first set in a tie-break, just as it was in their previous hard-court meeting in Doha last season. Swiatek needed only one break in the second set to kill Rybakina's hopes of any comeback.

The five-time Grand Slam champion saved a late break point when serving for the match. Swiatek and Poland will contest a second straight final at the United Cup. They lost last year's final to Germany despite holding match points.

Coco Gauff vs Iga Swiatek Head-To-Head

• Gauff and Swiatek have met 13 times at the WTA level.

• Swiatek leads Gauff 11-2, but it is the American who won their last meeting at the 2024 WTA Finals in straight sets.

Coco Gauff vs Iga Swiatek Prediction

It's a blockbuster final at the 2025 United Cup with the top two nations in the competition battling for the trophy. Swiatek has unfinished business in this tournament, coming within touching distance from winning the title 12 months ago. A second defeat could have far-reaching effects as it could signal that the tables are slowly turning in this matchup. 

A Gauff win over Swiatek is almost unthinkable but always precious and not beyond the realms of possibility with the American carrying all the momentum in the final quarter of last season to 2025. In that run, she defeated Swiatek in a high-stakes match at the WTA Finals.

I think the addition of Matt Daly to her coaching team has had an instant impact on her much-maligned forehand. She is playing with a refined extreme Western grip and it is not as vulnerable as it was at this time last year. Swiatek has a psychological advantage here having dominated this one-sided series, but do not be fooled by it. This will be competitive and winnable for the in-form Gauff.