Fritz Helped USA Win First-Ever United Cup
The United States won the inaugural United Cup of Tennis, a new national mixed team competition with a 15 million dollar prize fund that is played in Australia at the start of the year, on Sunday in Sydney. Taylor Fritz effort in front of Matteo Berrettini on Sunday helped the USA defeat Italy and win the United Cup. They had a three-game winning streak against Italy just after the first three games.
Final Breakdown
Martina Trevisan was defeated by Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-2. Then, Frances Tiafoe profited from Lorenzo Musetti’s withdrawal while suffering from a right shoulder injury. The American’s opponent quit after the first set, which she had won 6-2. After two tiebreaks, Taylor Fritz defeated Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/4) and 7-6 (8/6) to win the match and give the USA the inaugural United Cup. The last two matches were not played since they were no longer a threat to American win.
In the whole competition, which began with 18 nations in Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney, USA only lost two singles matches. United States defeated Swiatek-led Poland 5-0 in the semi-finals.
Taylor Fritz’s Masterclass
After a very close match, Taylor Fritz defeated Berrettini (ranked 16th on the ATP) winning 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6). The Italian’s serve came under persistent assault from the world No. 9, who earned four break points in his opening two service games, but none of them were converted. Fritz dominated from the baseline. Despite his domination, opening set finished in tie-break in which the American seized a 3-0 lead before it was over. In the second set, Fritz generated a number of matchpoints once more, but Berrettini held on. The match once more came down to a tie-break, which the American won.
Exquisite From Tiafoe and Pegula
The American team was able to do without the world No 7 Coco Gauff, who won on Sunday in Auckland, by relying on Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, the Nos. 3 and 11 on the WTA. Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula had earlier defeated Lorenzo Musetti and Martina Trevisan in their respective singles matches, giving their nations a commanding advantage in the best-of-five match.
It’s a big victory for the USA as earlier in November, The United States was eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals after a humbling defeat to Colombia. In the finals, Canada Won Their First-Ever Davis Cup and bring the trophy first time to the nation.
