The United States has taken out the 2025 United Cup after Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz produced exceptional performances against Iga Świątek and Hubert Hurkacz respectively to seal the tie 2-0.
This is the second time the USA has won the title, after lifting the trophy in the inaugural 2023 edition.
Click here to watch live tennis on Stan Sport.
Gauff previously had an unfavourable 2-11 head-to-head against Świątek, but turned it around in front of a near-sold-out crowd of 10,283 spectators, most of whom were heavily behind the Polish team.
Świątek was erratic with a number of unforced errors and in her press conference, revealed that she was not 100 per cent fit after taking her second medical time-out for the week just before Gauff was about to serve for the match, attributing the time-out to her workload during the week.
"Taping wasn't a different leg, but nothing happened really," said Świątek. "I was just tired. The volume at the beginning of the tournament especially has been pretty big, but honestly, it's all good."
Meanwhile, Gauff thought she played close to her best level.
"I definitely think this is one of my best tennis performances, especially in today's match, was a high-level match. I think both of us were playing well," the 2023 US Open winner admitted.
Taylor Fritz took an early lead against Hubert Hurkacz in the second rubber. But Hurkacz, who was moving incredibly well, took the second set and forced the third to a tiebreak. Along the way, both players hit some incredible shots with gripping rallies all the way through. However, ultimately it was Fritz who took the win 6-4 5-7 7-6(4) to take the trophy.
"Huge key [was] just trying to get on to some of his serves, get myself in as many points as possible, trying to get free points on my serve, which I didn't do a great job of in the breaker, but I was able to tough out some of those second-serve points. I don't know, just kind of make him have to beat me on a lot of the points. I think that's what it was," said Fritz.
The tie was particularly special for Denis Kudla, who announced this would be his final tournament.
"It's incredible to retire in this way, representing my country, something that's super special, being with this group right here," he said.
"I was saying how rare it is to actually end my career on a [win]. Not too many people actually get to do that. To end on a happy note, I think it was super special. I didn't expect the emotions to come over me at all, but I'm super grateful for the opportunity."
For the players, it is now time to look ahead to the Australian Open, with several matches under their belt and for the members of Team USA, a title to start the season.
Game4padel is leading the way in the growth of Padel tennis in Australia. Check them out at game4padel.com.au for club locations, corporate event opportunities and special offers.
Comments