Nothing came easy for Team Germany at United Cup 2024. But in the end, they emerged champions in the event's second staging.
The unexpected duo of Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev will spearhead German hopes once again in 2025, having paired up to win their mixed doubles matches not once, not twice, but three times in the knockout stages at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney a year ago.
TICKETS: Cheer on Team Germany as they aim to defend their United Cup title
"I had to play six matches in three days' time," a bleary-eyed Zverev told reporters after Germany secured the Cup. "It's probably even more difficult than a slam, to be honest."
It could prove difficult a year on for the Germans, who have a trio of lower-ranked players joining Zverev, Siegemund and Tim Puetz, the doubles star who put an exclamation on the end of his 2024 season by capturing the ATP Finals title with countryman Kevin Krawietz.
But this team understands how to navigate even the bumpiest terrain. Just think back to 2024.
While singles superstar Zverev more than played his part in 2024, it's Siegemund who could be pulling double duty across both singles and mixed doubles, where she and Puetz could prove a formidable pair.
Surprisingly, they've never teamed up, though Puetz won his first mixed doubles major with Miyu Kato at the French Open in 2023 while Siegemund is twice a mixed major champ.
Mixed doubles is the ingredient in the United Cup recipe that can make ties so tasty: You need a strong singles line-up to at least get to that decisive match, but it also can prove to be a make-or-break prospect.
"I've played important mixed doubles in the Slams, but it's just a different feeling when you have other players working very hard in their singles matches to get those points, and then it kind of comes down to you," Siegemund said after the 2024 final.
"I think you carry different [weight] on your shoulders. You know, you don't play only for you. You play for the whole team... It's a different kind of tension."
Germany will open its United Cup campaign this year much as it did in 2024, in Perth, where they're slated in Group E alongside China and Brazil.
That likely means a clash between Zverev and rising men's star Zhang Zhizhen of China, or "Triple Z" as he's come to be known. Zhang hit a career-high ranking of No.31 this year, having started the 2023 season at 99th.
Zverev enters 2025 equalling his best career ranking at world No.2, winning Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Paris (indoors) while reaching his second major final, at Roland-Garros (where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz).
The lanky German, now 27, is still on the hunt for his maiden major title. And trust him, he's well aware of what he still dreams of accomplishing.
"What stays in mind [from 2024] are the tough losses... the Australian Open loss against Daniil [Medvedev] and the French Open final against Carlos," Zverev said. "Those are the matches that stay in my mind."
He continued: "You can trust me. I'm going to do everything I can to be back in the same moments, in the same positions this next year.
“I'm going to do everything I can to win."
