“A great female player in Eva this time”: Alexander Zverev confident in partner Lys to reclaim United Cup crown

Team Germany aims to replicate its 2024 success at the upcoming United Cup, led by Alexander Zverev, who will join one of the WTA’s breakout stars of 2025: 23-year-old Eva Lys, currently world No. 40 and Germany’s No. 1.

A year ago, Germany’s top-ranked female player was Laura Siegemund, who barely managed to stay inside the top 80, with her more notable performances coming in doubles. The Europeans advanced from the group stage, winning tiebreak matches against Brazil and China—highlighted by Zverev’s singles victories over Thiago Monteiro and Zhang Zhizhen.

However, an injury forced Zverev to withdraw before the quarterfinals, and Germany was eliminated by Kazakhstan, with wins from Elena Rybakina over Siegemund and Alexander Shevchenko against Daniel Masur.

This time, the team may depend less heavily on Zverev—currently world No. 3—thanks to having a top-40 singles player in Eva Lys, who recently claimed her first top-10 victory against Rybakina at the China Open, reaching the quarterfinals, her best performance in a WTA 1000 event so far.

"I'm a big fan of team events, so I'm really happy Team Germany is all together here," Lys said during the German team’s press conference. "I feel like we don't have many times [when] ATP and also WTA can stick together, so I'm excited."

The major change for Germany this year is Eva Lys serving as the team’s No. 1 singles player. At the start of 2023, she was largely outside the media spotlight and ranked just No. 130. The absence of former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber - German leader during last decade - affected their performance in the last edition, which they won in 2024, defeating Poland in the final.

"Slightly different team than two years ago when we won it. But Laura is here, I'm here. We had good success in the mixed always in the past," the world No. 3 Zverev said. "We have a great female player in Eva this time, so it's nice to have this big of support and hopefully we can go on and have the same success as two years ago."

This year, the team looks even stronger, with Zverev again as the highest-ranked male player in the tournament. He is seen as the clear favorite against opponents like Tallon Griekspoor and Hubert Hurkacz—both coming in with limited match rhythm from 2024, particularly Hurkacz, who will play his first event since the Libema Open in June.

Germany will debut this Sunday, January 4, against the Netherlands, marking Eva Lys’s first official match in the competition. She will face world No. 87 Suzan Lamens. Following the singles matches between Zverev and Griekspoor, the mixed doubles will feature former top-10 doubles players Laura Siegemund (No. 24) and Tim Pütz (No. 11).