World number four Coco Gauff has described Maya Joint as a “great talent” ahead of a potential match-up against the rising Australian star at the United Cup.

Gauff helped the US reach the United Cup semifinals with wins in the singles and mixed doubles rubbers against Greece in Perth on Wednesday.

ABC Sport will have live coverage of the Australian Open from January 18.

The US, the defending champion, will meet either Australia or Poland in the last four, with those two nations to face each other in the quarterfinals on Friday evening.

An Australian victory would mean Gauff — a two-time major singles champion — would play Joint for the first time.

Should Poland win, Gauff would meet former world number one Iga Świątek in a singles rubber in the semifinals, which will be held in Sydney.

Świątek leads the head-to-head meetings against Gauff 11-4, but the American has won their last three matches.

This winning run includes Gauff’s defeat of Świątek in the singles rubber in last year’s United Cup final.

Coco Gauff plays a double-fisted backhand at the United Cup.

Coco Gauff helped the US reached the United Cup semifinals. (Getty Images: Janelle St Pierre)

Gauff said Świątek would be a formidable opponent, as would 19-year-old Joint, should the US play Australia in the semifinals.

“Obviously, we’ve [Gauff and Świątek] played each other a lot of times,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to the battle. I feel like when I’m playing great tennis, it puts a lot of pressure on them.

“And Maya — I’ve never played her, but she’s obviously a great talent, can play really well. Her ball strike can be really clean.

“Either way, I’ll have my hands full, but I’m just excited to go to Sydney and hopefully play some good tennis.”

De Minaur dazzles at United Cup

Twin wins from Alex de Minaur drags Australia off the canvas and into the United Cup quarterfinals with a victory over Czechia.

US-born Joint is Australia’s highest-ranked player at number 32 in the world.

She is coming off a breakout 2025 season, highlighted by WTA Tour tournament victories in Eastbourne and Rabat.

Joint will play world number two Świątek in Australia’s United Cup quarterfinal against Poland in Sydney.

Australia’s world number six Alex de Minaur will also face a tough examination from a former top-10 player Hubert Hurkacz.

Poland advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Australia qualified on Tuesday evening via a 2-1 defeat of Czechia.

AAP/ABC