By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Danielle Collins opened with true grit.

McCoco closed with complete command—and a celebratory flying shoulder bump—lifting the United States past Poland in a wild opener.

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Buddies Coco Gauff and Caty McNally reprised their doubles partnership with a dynamic 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of Magda Linette and Alicja Rosolska clinching the Americans' 2-1 Billie Jean King Cup victory over Poland in their round-robin opener at Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

The victory puts the USA atop Group D in round-robin play. The Billie Jean King Cup Finals feature 12 teams competing in four round-robin groups of three.

The four group winners advance to the semifinals with the Group D winner facing the Group A winner in Saturday's semifinals.

 

 

 

 

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Energized at the outset of the decisive doubles, Team McCoco were electric at the end.

Serving for the victory, McNally pulled off a pair of spectacular drives—including a crackling running drive down the line to end the match with a forehand firecracker.

The 18-year-old Gauff and 20-year-old McNally celebrated a 47-minute triumph with a flying body bash reminiscent of the Bryan brothers.

Credit U.S. captain Kathy Rinaldi for reforming McCoco with the tie on the line.

"When I heard I was playing with Coco, no matter who it was with, I was excited to play, but we haven't played together in a while," McNally said. "Like she said, our games just gel together super well. We get along, we have so much fun. I think that's the key is we just enjoy each other's presence out there.

"I thought we played amazing tonight and just couldn't have asked for a better debut. Thank you, Kathy, for trusting in us."

Shaking off any jet leg she felt flying in from Forth Worth where she struggled without a singles win in last week's WTA Finals, Gauff was pumped for a big bounce back.

"I was pretty motivated," Gauff said. "To be honest, is one of the motivations, after having a tough time in Fort Worth, that was I want to finish the year on a positive note. I knew regardless of result I will have a positive week here."

Australian Open finalist Collins opened today's play battling back from a break down in the final set fighting off Magdalena Frech  6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).

Though Collins' top-level tennis eluded her for stretches—she committed 36 more unforced errors than Frech, who was running nearly everything down with vigor—she dug in with her customary defiance and brought her best in the decisive tiebreaker.



Collins solidified her status as a valuable team player. The former all American at the University of Virginia improved to 5-0 lifetime in Billie Jean King Cup competition.

"I think when you're playing for your country and your team, you want to do the best you can," Collins said. "I think when you're not playing your best tennis, it can be a little bit frustrating, especially with the challenges she was presenting me with.

"I think she was serving really well, placing it really well. It was hard to anticipate where she was going to go. Yeah, she just made a lot of balls and really made me play a lot of really long points."

Linette thwarted Keys' prodigious power with her placement and shrewd use of the low ball in  6-4, 4-6, 6-2 triumph that leveled the tie after two matches.

Glasgow is a long way from Guadalajara and Polish players tried to prevent deja vu.

The 14th-ranked Collins swept the 116th-ranked Frech, 6-3, 6-4, at the Guadalajara Open last month. Keys conquered Linette, 6-3, 6-3, on the strength of six service breaks in Guadalajara.

The Polish pair rebounded today taking both singles matches to three sets and probably causing Polish fans to ponder what if Iga Swiatek, who fell in the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth on Sunday, had made the trip to Glasgow.

The USA took the court with a 4-0 record against Poland winning all 13 of the previous sets between the nations, but Poland played spirited singles today.

Though this was the Americans' Group D round-robin opener, it felt like a must-win tie.

That's because the third team in the Group is perennial power Czech Republic. Captain Petr Pala's team boasts Karolina Pliskova, Karolina Muchova, Marketa Vondrousova and reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion doubles team Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova.

U.S. captain Rinaldi opted to substitute Gauff, who had flown into Glasgow from Fort Worth where she played the WTA Finals in singles and doubles last week, for scheduled doubles starter Taylor Townsend.  

Given the fact the left-handed Townsend is one of the world's best volleyers and partnered McNally to the US Open doubles final where they fell to Krejcikova and Siniakova and McNally was making her Cup debut, the captain left herself open to second-guessing.

McCoco confirmed the captain's confidence from the first ball.

"Well, I put some thought into it," Rinaldi said of her decision. "Obviously when we were at 1-All, I thought, you know, Coco's one of our, well, was the No. 1 world doubles player, and I just have so much confidence in her. I know it's been a lot of travel and a lot of tennis for her lately, but she was up for the challenge. I couldn't have been more proud.

"Then for Caty, with her debut, I thought it was perfect for them to play together and, boy, did they not disappoint? That was some beautiful, beautiful doubles."

Gauff, who is ranked fourth in doubles, and McNally, who is ranked No. 21 in doubles, have played together since their junior days and most recently partnered at the Miami Open last March.

The pair picked up the partnership right where they left off in statement start.

Sporting a red, white and blue headband, Gauff threw down an ace and McNally repelled a pair of heavy forehand strikes and net and closed with a high volley in a strong opening game.

Bursting out of the blocks with command, Gauff and McNally won 12 of the first 14 points played on their serves streaking out to a 5-0 lead after just 14 minutes of play.

Working in unison, Gauff was moving to the middle after a McNally wide serve, cut off the return and punched a forehand volley to give the Americans a one-set lead after 20 minutes.

McCoco broke at love for a 4-1 second-set lead and never looked back wrapping up the win and putting the USA atop Group D.



Collins calls this American squad "a really laid-back group."  Collins credited the bond between teammates—and the obligation the former All American felt to get the group off to a positive start—with igniting her comeback.

"I think if anything it kind of motivated me to get through the finish line even more, because a lot of the girls on the team I grew up," Collins said. "We have known since we were little and have been great friends. "So I don't want to let them down. I want to be able to, yeah, be able to get through the finish line, but also I was thinking about Maddie going on court. And I was, like, Gosh, I hope she's not watching a lot of these shots I should be making, and I hope I don't, yeah, kind of inspire a lot of not-so-great mistakes on court.

"So, no, I don't think it inhibited. I think it motivated me a lot to just try to get the win even more, because I think a lot of times if you're just playing for yourself, you know, you could easily say, You know what, she's serving too well and making some really good shots, and I could have just rolled over and in many ways let her beat me."

Ultimately, Collins' unrelenting aggression helped push her past the feisty Frech.

In the tiebreaker, Collins cranked a deep return down the middle then curled a crosscourt backhand winner for a 3-0 lead. Frech came back with a couple of penetrating forehands. Collins ripped a forehand return winner down the line for 4-2. After switching sides, the American bolted her backhand down the line for 5-2.

A fired-up Collins slashed successive aces closing a pressure-packed match in style and receiving an embrace from captain Kathy Rinaldi.

"I knew Danielle is so aggressive player," Frech said. "She's playing so tough, especially from the backhand side. I tried to stick together with her, to focus on my service game.

"I think we played two sets in 1 hour and 10 minutes, so it was really fast. There was no rallies. But then in the third set, yeah, I had one break, and then I lost in two minutes. Yeah, I think that was the important moment."

The moment was not too big for Magda Linette.



With Poland's hopes riding on her shoulders, Linette mixed the pace and played low to Keys' formidable forehand in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 triumph that leveled the tie after two matches.

Linette played the pivotal points with more patience and care and gave Keys every opportunity to implode. Keys obliged on many occasions struggling to keep the ball between the lines in first and last sets. Keys committed 55 unforced errors—36 more than Linette—and was three of 11 on break-point chances.

That win set the stage of the decisive doubles match.