Europe 1 with AFP 00:38, January 09, 2023

The United States won the first edition of the United Cup, a mixed team tennis competition, against Italy on Sunday thanks to the success of Taylor Fritz in front of Matteo Berrettini.

Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula had both earlier won their singles.

The United States won the inaugural United Cup on Sunday in Sydney.

In the final, the Americans clearly dominated Italy (3-0).

Taylor Fritz brought the point of the coronation in the number 1 match against Matteo Berrettini in two very tight sets, each time concluded by a tie-break (7-6 [4], 7-6 [6]).

Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula had both won their singles earlier, over Lorenzo Musetti and Martina Trevisan respectively, to give their country a comfortable lead in a best-of-five clash.

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Fritz offers victory

Fritz won the victory over Berrettini, 16th at the ATP, winning 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6) after a very close match.

The world number 9 constantly put pressure on the Italian's serve, getting four break points in his first two service games but all of them were saved.

Despite Fritz's dominance from the baseline, the first set ended in a tie-break where the American took a 3-0 lead before concluding.

Fritz again created a series of break points in the second set, but Berrettini hung on and the match ended again in a tie-break in which the American triumphed.

"It's amazing for the team to win this event, we came in with high hopes," Fritz said.

"We are really happy to be able to win the match. The emotions you feel when you win are incredible," said the Indian Wells winner last year.

"We worked a lot on team cohesion this week," he added.

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Poland crushed in the semi-finals

"When we combine the guys and girls from the United States, we are so high in the rankings that it makes the team much stronger," he said.

Relying on Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, numbers 3 and 11 in the WTA, the American team was thus able to do without the 7th in the world, Coco Gauff, titled Sunday in Auckland.

The United States crushed Iga Swiatek-led Poland 5-0 in the semi-finals before winning the new tournament, which started with 18 nations in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney for the group stage ten years ago. days.