Felix Auger-Aliassime makes “feminist” move by naming Gabriela Dabrowski United Cup captain, claims doubles specialist

Felix Auger-Aliassime is the No. 1-ranked Canadian player, and thus by default he becomes the captain of the 2025 United Cup edition, which will be played from 27 December 2024 to 5 January 2025 across two Australian cities: Perth (RAC Arena) and Sydney (Ken Rosewall Arena / Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre).

However, it appears Auger-Aliassime has given up the captaincy role to teammate and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski. On The Tennis Podcast, Aussie tennis star Ellen Perez and Luke Saville joined Brie Stewart and Xavier Muhlebach to discuss the United Cup teams and a conversation came up regarding Auger-Aliassime giving up the captaincy to a female teammate.

Stewart called Auger-Aliassime "feminist" for naming Dabrowski the United Team captain.

"He's a feminist," Stewart said (32:30).

As per the United Cup rulebook, by default, the No. 1 player on the team, which in this case is Auger-Aliassime, automatically is named the "Team Captain." However, he/she has the option to appoint another person as the captain. That person can be another active ATP/WTA player, a former player, or a coach.

Stewart then went on to ask Perez about Dabrowski. The Australian pro said:

"Yeah, she’s cool. I mean, I think she actually would do a very good job in this role. I think she’s very organized, very structured. Um, yeah. I mean, that’s partly why she’s very good at doubles. I think she sees the game well, so I think she’ll bring a great bit."

Interestingly, among all the captains participating in the United Cup across 18 nations, Gabriela Dabrowski is the only female captain.

Team Canada's roster for United Cup tournament ft. Felix-Auger Aliassime, Gabriela Dabrowski

Team Canada has assembled quite the roster for the upcoming United Cup tournament. Felix Auger-Aliassime is the biggest name on their roster, followed by Victoria Mboko, Kayla Cross, Gabriela Dabrowski, Alexis Galarneau, and Christian Harper.

For the tournaments, 18 teams were divided into six groups. Team Canada is part of Group B, which also includes Belgium and China, and they will be playing their matches in Sydney.

Each tie between two nations will include three matches:

1. Men’s singles (No. 1 male from each country)
2. Women’s singles (No. 1 female)
3. Mixed doubles match

The winners from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals of this tournament will also be played in Sydney.