Perth, Jan 1 (NationPress) Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff secured wins in their singles matches in straight sets as the USA outperformed China 2-0 during the quarterfinals of the United Cup, kickstarting the year 2025 on a high note and earning a place in the semifinals of the mixed-gender team tournament on Wednesday. Fritz triumphed over Zhang Zhizhen with a score of 6-4, 6-4 at the RAC Arena, while Gauff defeated Shuai Zhang from China 7-6(4), 6-2, thus securing the victory for the USA.
Ranked No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, Taylor delivered a masterclass in serving to overcome Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-4, propelling Team USA to an unbeatable 2-0 lead against China. Throughout the one-hour and nineteen-minute match, he dropped only four points while serving.
"Coco did a phenomenal job in putting us ahead and allowing me the opportunity to finish it off," said Fritz, who leveled their Lexus ATP Head2Head record at 1-1. "I felt some pressure because I didn’t want to be the one to let the team down after Coco’s victories this week. I played a really solid match and I’m quite pleased with it.
"I believe I've improved with every match I’ve played, and tonight felt like I was getting back into the groove of how I played towards the end of last year," he added.
Fritz’s win, his seventh in the event, complemented Gauff’s straight-sets victory over Zhang Shuai. As the champions of the United Cup two years ago, the USA will join Kazakhstan on a flight to Sydney, where they will face either Italy or Czechia in the semifinals. It wasn’t just Fritz’s significantly enhanced serve causing damage; he also created nine break points with his relentless ball-striking, converting two to secure a decisive quarter-final win for the USA.
"Last year, I made substantial improvements to my game, and I began to realize that the average performance I could deliver daily was sufficient to beat many higher-ranked players whom I previously thought I had to play incredibly well to defeat," Fritz said.
Earlier, World No. 3 Gauff had to exert herself against Zhang Shuai, but the 20-year-old American emerged victorious 7-6(4), 6-2, providing an early advantage to the USA.
"I had to hit an ace to win points against Shuai," Gauff stated. "She played exceptional tennis. Dennis [Kudla] mentioned that I managed to dig deep, and that’s how it felt. I was literally on the ground for much of the match."
"The harder I hit, the harder she responded," Gauff reflected. "I felt like I couldn’t get her on the defense. She was playing aggressively against me, and I had to make my second serves more powerful, which resulted in more double faults. However, if I just placed it in, it was a return winner, so I had to seize my chances," she explained.
With her flat groundstrokes and aggressive positioning, Zhang kept Gauff pinned behind the baseline with her depth. The veteran confidently broke Gauff at the start of the match but, as would become her downfall in the first set, failed to consolidate her break. Zhang broke Gauff three times in the opening set but was broken back each time, including when she served for the set at 6-5.
After reeling Zhang in, Gauff executed an excellent tiebreak to secure the set after 59 minutes, hitting a perfect lob winner to set up her set points. She carried her momentum into the second set, quickly racing to a 3-0 lead and maintaining her serve to finish off the hard-fought victory after one hour and thirty-four minutes. With this win, Gauff improved her record against Zhang to 3-0.
In her third appearance on the USA United Cup team, Desirae Krawczyk teamed up with debutant Robert Galloway for her first match in the event. The American pair triumphed over Zhang and Sun Fajing 6-3, 6-7(1), 10-3, completing a 3-0 sweep in the quarter-final tie before heading to Sydney.
