UNITED CUP

December 28, 2022

David Witt

Taylor Fritz

Jessica Pegula

Frances Tiafoe

Madison Keys

Alycia Parks

Denis Kudla

Hunter Reese

Desirae Krawczyk

Team USA

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Team USA. To get things going, David, you had a lot of success last year with Jess obviously, WTA Coach of the Year, what has it been like starting off the year working with a good group of great players?

CAPTAIN WITT: Well, of course, all her success is because of me (laughter).

No, it was a great year. Long couple years working hard. Hard work has paid off. We had a good year. It was awesome.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Taylor, great season last year, finished in Turin. How are you feeling ahead of the new season?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I feel good. I think it would have been nice maybe to have a bit more kind of time to dive back into the new season. But I'm ready to go.

I think it's always fun kind of starting with a team competition. We have an extremely strong team, so hopefully we can start the year out with a good result and win it.

Q. Jess, how quick does this turnaround seem from how late your season ended? How ready do you feel?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it's always a tough turnaround. I mean, I think the guys had even less time. For me, it felt like it was enough. Obviously it's a little bummer. A lot of us flew over Christmas. That's never fun.

Like Taylor said, coming to start the year with a team event, it's different. Different energy, maybe more relaxed, more of a fun atmosphere, a little less stressful maybe. Maybe that will help play into the new year, we can have a good result.

I think I had enough time. It was a good time to kind of relax, decompress. Of course, I always wish it was a little bit longer, but it was fine for me.

Q. Alycia, you're kind of the rookie, I guess, on this team. What has your experience been like so far? What do you look to take out of this week?

ALYCIA PARKS: Well, yeah, this is my first team event. I'm just looking to have fun and try to get something out of it. I'm just looking forward to playing on the court.

Q. Madison, you're going to open up against Marie Bouzkova. What do you think of that? How was your off-season? How ready are you to kick things off?

MADISON KEYS: I haven't played Marie for a few years now. She obviously had a really good end to her season in Guadalajara.

I think this is obviously a unique format, so I'm excited to be here. Have known all of these people for a really long time, so excited to start the year off back in a place that I've always had a lot of success, but with a new format, shaking things up.

Q. Frances, you had a great end to last year. I'm wondering how much confidence you're feeling at the start of this year?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean, I feel pretty good. I feel pretty excited for this year, for this season. I'm super excited to be here, play with these guys. I think we have a great team. Hopefully we can win it. Hopefully Taylor and Jess and Maddie can really carry me.

Q. Can you talk about playing a team event as opposed to an individual event.

FRANCES TIAFOE: It's good. Obviously being around everyone, everyone kind of lifting you up, seeing good tennis. It's easy to compete when someone (indiscernible) about you. Hopefully I can come up with some good tennis. Hopefully these guys can carry me and win the thing (smiling).

Q. David, what do you make of the group that you have been drawn into?

CAPTAIN WITT: I've known pretty much everybody on the team for a while. It's a great group. Team competition is good because everybody supports everybody. We have fun on and off the court, which makes the tournament and the trip fun.

But the camaraderie we have is great. We all get along, so it's good.