By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, January 4, 2025
Coco Gauff played with command and Taylor Fritz fought fiercely leading Team USA to an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Czechia and back to the United Cup final.
Photo credit: Will Russell/
The United States will play for the United Cup again.
Coco Gauff played with command and Taylor Fritz fought fiercely leading Team USA to an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Czechia and back to the United Cup final for the second time in three years.
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It was a night of high drama and intense emotion at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.
American No. 1 Fritz fought off a pair of match points serving at 2-5 in the second set sparking a four-game run against Tomas Machac to go up 6-5, 15-0 in the second set.
A third set was looming when Machac stunningly pulled the plug and retired due to cramps while holding a 7-6(4), 5-6 lead over the American.
Fritz’s fightback clinched the win sending the United States into tomorrow’s final against Poland, which opened semifinal play sweeping Kazakhstan, 3-0, on the strength of singles wins from Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek.
“It’s great to be back in the final,” Fritz told Mark Petchey in his on-court interview afterward. “That was a crazy match. Very physical.
“It’s not the way I wanted to win, the way it ended, but I think we’re all happy to be back in the finals again.”
In a clash of former French Open finalists, Gauff charged through seven of the first eight games dismissing Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-4 to stake the United States to a 1-0 lead.
World No. 3 Gauff raised her record against the ultra-talented Muchova to 4-0 applying her court coverage and crackling two-handed backhand to good effect. Gauff has swept all eight sets she’s played vs. world No. 22 Muchova, one of the best volleyers on the WTA Tour.
“It's never easy against Karolina," Gauff said. "The whole match I was intense and focused and I think that made the difference today.
"[I'm] happy to get my team off to a good start here in Sydney."
Asked to assess the men’s singles match, Gauff correctly called a big battle—and predicted Fritz’s fighting mentality would help him “pull out the win.”
"It's a tough match, Machac is a great player," Gauff said on court. "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."
A red-hot Machac was flying around the court like a man on a mission building a 7-6(4), 5-2 lead over Fritz with dynamic tennis.
US Open finalist Fritz was fired up saving those two match points, held serve for 3-5 then immediately broke back. Both players were soaked with sweat on a steamy night as Fritz reeled off 15 of 19 points to go up 6-5, 15-love.
Trailing 5-6 in the second set, Machac flipped out in a temper tantrum on his return to the Czechia team bench. Machac flung his racquet aside, screamed repeatedly at himself then smacked his left hand off his red Yonex racquet bag.
That emotional outburst was a prelude to what happened next. Machac, who has played outstanding tennis throughout this United Cup, walked to net during the next game, shook Fritz’s hand and retired with what officials said was cramping though the man from Czechia had been moving well and hit some superb running strikes.
The retirement not only sent Team USA into its second United Cup final in the last three years, it snapped Machac’s nine-match winning streak against Americans and took Fritz by surprise.
“He said he’d been cramping for a couple of games already,” Fritz said of his conversation with Machac at net. “I didn’t notice and he was moving pretty well, but he was playing through it fighting.
“It’s really humid in here. That’s something I was thinking of was a possibility. If I could win that set take it to the third I was thinking someone might start cramping later on. It was a physical match.”
The United States, which defeated Poland in the semifinals en route to the 2023 United Cup, will face a tough task in the final rematch.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek has dominated Gauff winning 11 of their 13 meetings though the Delray Beach-born baseliner beat the world No. 2 in their most recent meeting, 6-3, 6-4, in the WTA Finals last fall.
World No. 4 Fritz is 3-1 lifetime vs. Hurkacz, including a pulsating 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win at the 2023 United Cup semifinals.