Coco Gauff took a small step in the right direction against Iga Swiatek with a sometimes scandalously good 6-4, 6-4 victory in Sydney. Gauff’s victory gave the American team a 1-0 lead in the United Cup final, before Taylor Fritz beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4) to clinch the title .
Swiatek now leads Gauff 11-3, but the American has won her last two meetings by reworking the forehand and serve that have hampered her for much of the 2024 season. Gauff, who added the grip expert Matt Daly to his coaching staff after parting ways with Brad Gilbert, repeatedly threw Swiatek’s notoriously heavy forehand down the lines, varying height and spin to deny the world number 2 to establish the basic rhythm which so often. sees her dominate the players.
As at the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Swiatek made more unforced forehand errors than Gauff – but her performance from the baseline in Riyadh was completely wrong, even though it was a much closer competition that the Pole has led on several occasions.
Swiatek seemed hampered by a left thigh problem in the last two matches, a separate problem from the right thigh injury she has been carrying since her victory over Great Britain’s Katie Boulter. After a titanic eighth game of the second set in which Gauff broke for 4-4, it made for a disappointingly flat end to what had been an incredible encounter. Gauff will emerge with renewed confidence in their so-far skewed rivalry, while Swiatek will view the break in both sets as both a missed opportunity and encouragement for the remainder of the 2025 season.
“I believe now that I am one of the best players in the world,” Gauff said on the pitch.
Hurkacz took a 2-0 lead early in the third set tiebreak against Fritz, who reached his first Grand Slam final at last year’s US Open and rose to a career-high No. 4 in the world in career. But the Pole tightened up while in the lead during two baseline rallies, moving forward at the wrong time and letting Fritz take the advantage.
This is the U.S. team’s second United Cup title, having won the inaugural 2022 edition against Italy. Poland has now reached the final twice, losing each time.
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Tennis, Women’s Tennis
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