Coco Gauff Struggles For 3 Hours, No ‘Peace’ For Taylor Fritz: Team USA’s United Cup Shenanigans On The Plane
Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz will play their biggest matches of the 2026 yet on Saturday, taking on Poland in the semifinals of the United Cup. However, that does not mean the USA team is not having fun along the way.
On their travel journey from Perth to Sydney before the semifinal, Fritz falling asleep on the plane and Gauff’s reaction to it was recently captured in a video, entertaining fans on the internet. The video was originally shared by their teammate, Mackenzie McDonald, on Instagram, which has since turned viral.
As Fritz sleeps next to her, Coco Gauff tries her best not to laugh looking at him dozing off and swaying side to side. The clip, shared by the Tennis Channel then on their own account, drew responses from Fritz and Gauff as well.
Fritz jokingly complained about his teammate not giving him a moment of peace, while Gauff pointed out the struggles of experiencing this for hours on end on the flight to Sydney.
“Can’t even sleep in peace anymore,” Fritz said.
“3 hours of this,” Gauff replied.
Screengrab from Instagram with Coco Gauff & Taylor Fritz’s comments
In the rubber vs Poland, Coco Gauff will take on Iga Swiatek, their 16th match on the WTA Tour. Fritz, on the other hand, will lock horns with a very in-form Hubert Hurkacz. The winner of the rubber will then face either Switzerland or Belgium in the final on Sunday in Sydney.
Taylor Fritz & Coco Gauff on their love for the United Cup & team events
Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz have made no secret of their love for team tournaments like the United Cup, an opinion they emphasized again this year.
Speaking to the press after beating Greece in the quarterfinals to finish their Perth leg, Fritz admitted that he enjoyed the lack of pressure in team events and the ‘fun’ part of tennis that often gets ignored on the ATP Tour.
“For me personally, I always love the team events. I like the fact — obviously as well I think it’s good because we’re all coming off of an offseason. Showing up here, you’re guaranteed to get the two matches obviously. If I’m playing somewhere else, I show up and lose that first match, I don’t gate chance to play again. Now I get to play another one,” Fritz said.
“So it’s really good to start the year, but I mean, typically I am in favor of a lot of the team events. I think it’s a lot of fun,” he added.
Gauff, though, felt that there was a certain pressure in events like the United Cup, but overall believed that it was good to foster a sense of camaraderie amoung countryfellows.
“Obviously the team format I think does create that pressure. Not only in singles, but in mixed. At the start of that tiebreaker I did feel the nerves for the first time this whole event, but yeah, I think it’s just feeling the nerves over and over again, and you learn how to I guess manage them,” Coco Gauff said.
Team USA are the defending champs at the 2026 United Cup, having beaten Poland in the final last year.
