In a quarterfinal match of the 2025 United Cup mixed team tennis tournament, Team China faced off against Team USA. In the first women's singles match, Zhang Shuai and Coco Gauff went into a tiebreak, with Zhang ultimately losing the first set 4-7 in a very intense match. In the second set, Gauff won again with a score of 6-2 over Zhang, helping Team USA take a 1-0 lead overall.
Last year at the United Cup, Zheng Qinwen led Team China to the quarterfinals but unfortunately lost to Poland, missing out on advancing to the semifinals.
This year, Zheng withdrew from the competition at the last minute and was replaced by Gao Xinyu, ranked 175th in the world. Despite being a late addition, Gao performed exceptionally well, winning all her matches against Brazil and Germany, securing valuable 2 points for Team China and earning a total of 870,000 yuan in prize money.
In the quarterfinals, Team China made a last-minute change to their lineup, replacing Gao Xinyu with veteran Zhang Shuai. Zhang, with more experience and ability than Gao, faced off against Gauff, the number one women's singles player for Team USA and ranked third in the world. Gauff had defeated Zheng two months prior to win the 2024 Year-End Finals championship and now helped Team USA advance to the quarterfinals as group leaders.
The first set was extremely competitive, with Zhang playing exceptionally well despite being significantly lower in ranking and skill compared to Gauff. Zhang broke Gauff's serve in the first game, only to have Gauff break back immediately in the second. This pattern continued throughout the set, with both players breaking and then being broken back, leading to a 6-6 tie.
In the final tiebreak, Zhang started with a 0-3 deficit and was later down 1-5. After switching sides, Zhang managed to close the gap to 3-5 but couldn't hold on, eventually losing 4-7. Gauff celebrated her victory with a fist pump.
Statistically, Gauff made 6 double faults in the first set, while Zhang made none. Zhang dominated in serving, but in other aspects such as winners and first serve percentage, she fell short compared to Gauff.
In the second set, Gauff took an early 3-0 lead, breaking serve twice in a row. Zhang, with her back against the wall, managed to break back in the fourth game to reduce the deficit to 1-3. However, she was broken again in the seventh game. In the eighth game, after Gauff held serve, she won the set 6-2. Despite making a total of 9 double faults, Gauff still managed to win the set and the match 2-0, giving Team USA a 1-0 lead.