The United States advance to the final of the inaugural United Cup, where they will face either Italy or Greece, thanks to Taylor Fritz’s composed victory over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in a battle of the top 10 players on Saturday.
At Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena, the world number nine defeated his one-place behind-him big-serving opponent 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) After Jessica Pegula’s 6-2, 6-2 defeat of world number one Iga Swiatek on Friday and Frances Tiafoe’s 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Kacper Zuk, Fritz and the United States were already 2-0 ahead in the tie.
Before Madison Keys made it 4-0 by defeating Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2, Fritz’s victory gave them an insurmountable.
He stated, “I think we have been the favorites all week,” and “I’m super excited going into the finals.”
After putting more pressure on Hurkacz’s powerful serve, Fritz got the first break points of the match at 4-4, but the lanky Pole saved them both.
At 5-4, Hurkacz turned the tables to get two set points, but he was also denied. The match went to a tiebreak, and the American dug deep when the Pole hit a backhand.
In the second set, they went head to head, and Hurkacz once slammed his racquet to the ground out of frustration.
Fritz earned match points after the Pole made two unforced errors in the tiebreak. When Hurkacz threw his racquet again, he made no mistake.
Keys fought hard against Linette to maintain her tournament record of never losing.
She struggled in the second set but was ultimately too strong for the 48th-ranked Linette after grinding through the first set.
Additionally, Italy leads Greece 2-0 going into day two of the semi-finals.
That was after brave Martina Trevisan beat Maria Sakkari, the world’s number six, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, in a match that lasted more than three hours. Lorenzo Musetti, a teammate of Trevisan’s, then beat Greek teenager Stefanos Sakellaridis 6-1, 6-1.
To keep the tie alive, world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas will face the dangerous Italian Matteo Berrettini, ranked 16th, in a must-win match on Saturday evening.
If Greece and Greece draw level, the match will be a mixed doubles rubber between Camilla Rosatello and Musetti and Tsitsipas and Sakkari.