Taylor Fritz tied the bow Wednesday on a perfect start to 2025 for Team USA, which sealed its spot in the United Cup semi-finals.
The No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings produced a serving clinic to defeat Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-4 and move Team USA to an unassailable 2-0 lead against China in Perth. Fritz offered no let up throughout the one-hour, 19-minute match, during which he dropped just four points behind his serve.
"Coco did such a good job putting us ahead and giving me the chance to come out and put us through," said Fritz, who levelled the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head record at 1-1. "There was a little bit of pressure because I didn't want to be the one who loses it for the team after Coco won all her matches this week. I played a really solid match. Really happy with it.
"… I felt like I've gotten better with each of the matches I've played and this match tonight definitely felt like I was back in the flow of how things were feeling at the end of the year."
Fritz’s victory, his seventh at the event, backed up Coco Gauff’s straight-sets triumph over Zhang Shuai. Champions of the United Cup two years ago, USA has joined Kazakhstan on the cross-country flight to compete in the semi-finals in Sydney, where it will face Italy or Czechia.
It wasn’t just Fritz’s vastly improved serve that was causing Fritz damage. The reigning US Open and Nitto ATP Finals runner-up carved out nine break points with his relentless ballstriking, converting on two occasions to seal a comprehensive quarter-final tie in USA’s favour.
"Towards the end of last year I made a lot of improvements to my game and I started to believe in the average level I felt I could produce every day was enough to beat a lot of the higher-ranked guys who before I thought I had to play incredible to beat,” Fritz said.
Earlier, World No.3 Gauff was made to work by China's Zhang Shuai but the 20-year-old American prevailed 7-6(4), 6-2 to give USA an early lead.
"Against Shuai, I had to hit an ace to win the point," Gauff said. "She was playing amazing tennis out there. Dennis [Kudla] was saying I digged it out and that's what it felt like. I was literally on the ground for most of the match."
"The harder I hit, the harder she was hitting," Gauff said. "I felt like I couldn't get her on defense. She was playing so aggressive on me and I felt like I had to go more on my second serves, which brought in more double faults, but if I just put it in it was a return winner. So I had to take my chances."
Locked and loaded 🔥@CocoGauff gives Team USA the perfect start in Perth.#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/713KAWf5kJ
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 1, 2025
Gauff extended her perfect United Cup debut with a gritty effort in the first set to come from a break down three times to upend Zhang's inspired play. The 35-year-old veteran stepped into singles after China's surprise hero during the group stage, Gao Xinyu, was forced to stand down due to injury.
With her flat groundstrokes and aggressive baseline positioning, Zhang kept Gauff pinned behind the baseline with her depth of shot. She confidently broke Gauff in the first game of the match but, as would be her undoing in the opening set, failed to consolidate her break. Zhang broke Gauff three ties in the opening set, but was broken back each time, including as she served for the set at 6-5.
Having reeled Zhang in, Gauff played an outstanding tiebreak to seal the set after 59 minutes, striking a perfect lob winner to set up her set points. Gauff took her momentum into the second set, racing out to a 3-0 lead and protecting her serve to close out the hard-fought win after 1 hour and 34 minutes. With the victory, Gauff improved her record against Zhang to 3-0.
In her third appearance in the USA United Cup team, Desirae Krawczyk teamed up with debutant Robert Galloway to play her first match in the event. The American duo overcame Zhang and Sun Fajing 6-3, 6-7(1), 10-3 to make it a 3-0 sweep in the quarter-final tie before they head to Sydney.
