Team USA is one match away from taking home another United Cup title.
United Cup: Scores | Draws | Order of Play
After Coco Gauff began her country’s semifinal tie against the Czech Republic with a comprehensive victory against Karolina Muchova, Tomas Machac was in position to level the tie for his country against Taylor Fritz. But from serving for the match at 7-6(4), 5-3, the No. 25 player in the PIF ATP Rankings lost three consecutive games to World No. 4 Fritz and then abruptly retired.
“He said he’d been cramping for a couple games already. I didn’t notice, but yeah,” Fritz said in his on-court interview. “He was moving pretty well, but I guess he was playing through it, fighting. It’s really humid in here.
“That’s something I was thinking was a possibility if I could win that set, take it to a third I was thinking maybe someone might start cramping later on. It’s tough conditions, it was a physical match.”
The 2023 champions at this mixed-team event, the United States will now take on Iga Swiatek, Hubert Hurkacz and Poland on Sunday for the trophy.
“It’s great to be back,” Fritz said. “That was a crazy match, very physical and it’s not the way that I that I guess I want to win. But I think we’re all happy that we’re back in the final again.”
Earlier, World No. 3 Gauff engineered a dominant performance Saturday to move the United States to within a point of advancing to the United Cup final. Gauff raced through a 6-1, 6-4 victory over No.22 Karolina Muchova to improve to a perfect 4-0 against the Czech.
“It’s never easy against Karolina,” Gauff said. “The whole match I was intense and focussed and I think that made the difference today. Happy to get my team off to a a good start here in Sydney.”
Gauff was prophetic when she looked ahead to the challenge her countryman Fritz faced against Mahac.
“It’s a tough match, Machac is a great player,” Gauff said. “I have full confidence in Taylor. He’s a great player, he has one of the best mindsets on Tour. I don’t take that lightly. After spending time with him at the Olympics on the mixed court, and then today and this past week, this is just the beginning. That’s why today I have a lot of confidence he’ll pull out the win. And if not, I’ll be ready to play mixed.”
The Americans took home the title two years ago in the event’s inaugural edition, with Fritz partnering Jessica Pegula to deliver the win.
Entering Saturday night’s showdown at Ken Rosewall Arena, Gauff had never lost a set to Muchova, winning all six contested. Showing no signs of fatigue from the cross-country trip from Perth, Gauff came out of the gates hot and confident. She needed less than 10 minutes to build a 3-0 lead and closed out the opening set by saving two break points in her final game.
Gauff led 4-2 in the second set before Muchova settled in and broke the American’s serve for the first time, doing it in style with a pitch-perfect volley. But Gauff’s baseline defence proved too much for Muchova. The Czech handed the break back with an errant game and Gauff served out the 90-minute win.
