United States to battle Italy in the United Cup final.
A determined Taylor Fritz pulled off a 7-6(5) 7-6(5) victory against the Polish’s Hubert Hurkacz as the United States finished a 5-0 sweep on Saturday to make it to the semi-finals stage of the United Cup mixed team tournament in which they will take on against Italy.
Italy has secured their place in the final of the first $15 million event following a commanding 3-1 advantage in their semi-final match against Greece.
The fiery Americans have made a solid start, having led 2-0 on Friday. Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe had a convincing win and the world’s number nine Fritz kept his cool to prevail against Hurkacz.
Indian Wells champion Fritz saved two set points when playing 5-4 down in the opening set. Hurkacz failed to make his mark and the American gained the lead in the match after his opponent committed a second error after an extremely tight tiebreak.
Six-Year-Old Student Deliberately Shot Teacher In US
Fritz, who racked up eighty percent of the first serve points, needed a strong serve to keep the match at an unbeatable 6-5 win in his second match prior to winning in a tension-filled tiebreak, sending his team through to a title match against one of Italy and Greece.
“It was great to get the win today to get us through. I had no doubt that if I were to lose that the rest of the team would have come through,” Fritz stated.
United States to battle Italy in United Cup final https://t.co/XKqnVOyxFx pic.twitter.com/LRAU7o708v
— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) January 7, 2023
“But I’ve been a part of team U.S. a lot. I believe it’s an enormous benefit to have these girls in our team as it makes the whole team much more unified.
“I’m super excited going into the final and I think we’ve been the favorites all week.”
Madison Keys then beat Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2 to make it 4-0. Fritz and Pegula came back from a set loss to beat the mixed doubles match with Lukasz Kubot, and Alicja Rosolska 6-7(5) 4-7 10-6.
Italy was in the middle of their match with Greece having a 2-0 advantage following Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti were victorious, however Stefanos Tsitsipas cut the deficit by an amazing 7-6(2) 7-6(2) victory against Matteo Berrettini.
In a high-octane tennis match in front of a large number of Greek fans at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Tsitsipas was in danger of losing in the early stages as Berrettini was dominant in the first set due to his powerful serve and a thunderous forehand.
However, Tsitsipas changed the script and won in the next set, forcing Berrettini to perform uncharacteristic mistakes from the baseline. World number 4 rebounded after breaking during the final set to stop Berrettini and erupt into wild celebrations.
Lucia Bronzetti ensured there was no chance of a late comeback when she swept over Valentini Grammatikopoulou, 6-2, 6-3, to send Italy to Sunday’s final in Sydney.
