Czechia's Tomáš Macháč abruptly retired from his match against Taylor Fritz after failing to convert match points and serve out the match, leaving a stunned Fritz and the USA through to the United Cup final to face Poland.
Macháč, who Fritz revealed said that he was suffering from cramping, was playing a match of the highest quality filled with breathtaking shotmaking off both the forehand and backhand wings before he stormed off court to scattered boos around the stadium from the confused crowd.
Playing in slow and humid conditions, Fritz started the match strong, gaining an early break before Macháč fought back with several gruelling backhand rallies of which he won most. The jumping forehands and backhands seen in previous matches were in full flow as the Czech won the tiebreak and began to assert dominance over Fritz, who looked stunned at the quality of Macháč’s shotmaking.
The Czech brought up match point on Fritz’s serve. but failed to convert before playing a horror game when serving for the match to get broken. Fritz then broke Macháč’s next service game before the Czech shook the American’s hand, storming off court without taking his bags with him.
During the change of ends right before Macháč pulled the pin, the 24-year-old was visibly distraught as he smashed his racquet and yelled at his bench.
"It was a great match," Fritz said. "I felt like I got off to a really good start. I was playing well. I should have been able to hold out my serve and win the first set. Then, on the flip side, in the second set, I felt that was a set that I was getting more outplayed, and I managed to fight, stay in it, doing what I could do and get back to it."
When asked about Macháč’s cramping, Fritz said it was not a surprise that someone had started cramping given how humid the conditions were in the stadium.
"He told me that he had been cramping for a couple of games already," the world No.4 admitted. "I'm not surprised that someone could have started cramping in that match. I thought it would probably happen later in the third set, but it was very humid in there. It was a very physical match as well."
The official reason given by the ATP for Macháč’s retirement was "cramps and left knee pain".
Earlier in the night, Coco Gauff had no trouble adjusting to the conditions in Sydney as she breezed past Karolina Muchová 6-1 6-4. The 2023 US Open champion hit 26 winners in the contest and held the lead all through the match as Muchová failed to replicate her heroics against Paolini the night prior.
With the final against Poland set in stone for tomorrow night, the two singles stars were confident they would be ready for the challenges ahead.
"I think it's going to be a great level of tennis, and super excited to go out there tomorrow and hopefully bring the Cup back home," said Gauff.
"Poland's got a great team," added USA Captain Michael Russell. "In 2022, we played them, but we have such good energy. Coco and Taylor are playing great and they fight.
"Hubi serves cannons. Iga moves great, but so does Coco and she's playing well. Taylor's playing great. I think [the] keys to the match are coming out and fighting like Coco and Taylor did so well today. It's going to come down to maybe a few points, but we have a great bench behind us, so it will be fun."
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