Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff teamed up Sunday night to guide USA through an exhilarating United Cup tie against Canada in Group A.
In a winner-takes-all mixed doubles rubber, the Americans showed their grit with a hard-fought 7-6(2), 7-5 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez, sealing a 2-1 triumph. Fritz and Gauff let slip a break lead in both sets, but recovered to seal victory at 12:54 a.m. in Perth.
"Really happy with how we played today in the mixed,” Gauff said. “I felt we got better the longer the match went. We had a lot of chances and finally we were able to stick 'em when it mattered.”
"After the way I lost my singles match it would have been really tough to go home today with a mixed doubles loss today as well," Fritz said. "Thank you Coco for carrying the team and we got it done."
Team USA pass the opening test ✅
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 29, 2024
Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff edge out Fernandez/Auger-Aliassime to seal the tie.#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/TpEchpuHqD
Despite defeat, Fernandez showed her serving qualities against the big-hitting Fritz on several occasions. The 22-year-old saved three break points on her serve in the first set, but eventually came undone by the Americans with a clinical tie-break performance. In the second set, Fritz and Gauff’s resilience ultimately prevailed as they dug deep from 0/30 in the 12th game to clinch the tie.
Auger-Aliassime and Fernandez had the opportunity to top Group A and qualify for the quarter-finals with a win, but will have to wait until the outcome of USA’s clash with Croatia on Tuesday to learn their fate.
Auger-Aliassime had earlier levelled the tie and kept Canada alive with an epic comeback victory over Fritz, his first triumph over the American after three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings.
Trailing a set and a break, the 24-year-old came up with some redline tennis to sink Taylor Fritz 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and send the tie to a live mixed doubles rubber. Having been unable to break Fritz’s serve in the seven sets they had contested going into the second, Auger-Aliassime struck twice in two games from 4-5 down to spark life into the crowd inside RAC Arena.
"It was a crazy night of tennis so far, it's not over," said Auger-Aliassime, referring to the deciding mixed doubles to come.
"I started slow in my first service game but after that it was a really high level, from Taylor as well. It was just a matter of finding ways tactically, changing my positions on the return. I decided to step in closer and dictate from the first shot and it worked perfectly. From that point on the match turned in my favour."
Fritz showed little sign of rust in the opening set of his 2025 campaign as he snatched an early break before racing into the lead. The reigning US Open and Nitto ATP Finals runner-up appeared to be closing in on the rubber when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Auger-Aliassime found a last-gasp burst of energy to spark hopes of a comeback.
The Canadian, who had failed to break Fritz’s serve in the seven prior sets they contested, struck twice in two games to stun the American. Fueling life into the crowd inside RAC Arena, Auger-Aliassime ignited some of the scintillating tennis that propelled him to World No. 6 in 2022. His two-hour, 17-minute win thoroughly contrasted his opening-round clash, where he fell to Borna Coric after leading by a set and 4-2.
Gauff had earlier picked up right where she left off last season by defeating Fernandez 6-3, 6-2 to put USA 1-0 up. In the first career meeting between the two young stars, the World No. 3 and WTA Finals champion unleashed her power and speed to secure a physical win.
"I'm super happy with how I played, and super happy to get a point on the board for my team," said Gauff. "I knew I was going to have to run a lot. Leylah can hit some crazy angles, so I was just trying my best to hit the best possible shot on them."
Gauff's court coverage, counterpunching, and growing confidence in her baseline power game proved too much for the similarly offensive-minded Fernandez. The 31st-ranked Canadian opened her United Cup with an upset win over Croatia's Donna Vekic on Day 1.
After a pair of lengthy service games to open the duel, Gauff broke open the match with a break of serve to lead 2-1. With Gauff serving at 3-2, Fernandez earned her first break chances to level the set. But facing down a 15-40 deficit, Gauff unleashed an outrageous display of speed to wipe away the Canadian's hope of a comeback and went on to confidently close out the set, aided by a 92 percent (11 of 12) win percentage behind her first serve.
Gauff continued her march to build a 3-0 advantage in the second set and protected her lead to seal the win after 1 hour and 36 minutes. The 20-year-old was unbroken on the night, losing just four points behind her first serve (27 of 31) and saving the two break points she faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
