USA win United Cup as Coco Gauff lays down marker against Iga Swiatek
In her short time as a professional tennis player, even as her career blossomed and she established herself as one of the best in the world, Coco Gauff’s great progress was often overshadowed by the confrontation she simply couldn’t resolve. By last June, Gauff had lost eleven of her first twelve matches against Iga Swiatek, an opponent she will likely face for many years to come.
What was once a painfully one-sided non-rivalry may have finally evolved into one of the best matches in professional tennis. On Sunday night at the United Cup in Sydney, Gauff recorded her second consecutive victory over Swiatek, toppling the five-time grand slam champion 6-4, 6-4 after two hours of sublime tennis from both champions.
Gauff’s victory over world number 2 Swiatek paved the way for the US to win the United Cup for the second time in the tournament’s three years as they defeated Poland 2-0. After third-place Gauff secured the first point for the US, men’s No. 4 Taylor Fritz narrowly defeated No. 16 Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4).
After ten extremely entertaining days at the United Cup, the final women’s match was the most anticipated match of all. It fully lived up to the hype as the pair produced tennis of the highest quality together during their two hours on court.
Gauff and Swiatek are undoubtedly the two best athletes on the WTA tour and while both players desperately tried to dictate and control the baseline, they also defended spectacularly, chasing down balls that would certainly have been winners against any other player, points reset and constantly flipped. defense turned into a tack in an instant.
Although Gauff was the more solid and durable player in the opening set, Swiatek forced her way back into the match by taking an early break in the second set. As the quality of play skyrocketed throughout the set, Gauff thrived in the important points, winning the final four games of the match against an increasingly tired Swiatek.
Since hiring her new coach Matt Daly after the US Open in September, Gauff has made incredible progress in no time. She has tackled her two glaring issues head-on, adjusting her grip on her service motion and significantly improving her forehand.
In their previous encounters, Swiatek’s dominance over Gauff stemmed from her ability to dismantle and expose Gauff’s vulnerable forehand with her own ruthless speed and weight of shot, but Gauff’s forehand is now much better at both deflecting pace and piercing holes in her opponents’ defense with the heavy topspin, meaning the complexion of their match-up has changed. Gauff also beat Swiatek in November on her way to winning the WTA Finals in Riyadh and she will go into the Australian Open confident that she can beat anyone in her path, no exceptions.
“I am convinced that I am one of the best players in the world. When I play good tennis, I am hard to beat,” Gauff said.
While Gauff thrived, Fritz also picked up where he left off in 2024, after a career year that saw him break into the top four and reach his first grand slam final at the US Open. Despite a spirited performance from Hurkacz, Fritz struck the ball with confidence and freedom in the key moments deep in the third set tiebreak to complete an excellent win.
“I would like to thank my team for the incredible support,” said Fritz. “The atmosphere was great all week. That’s one of the things that makes our team so great and one of the reasons we’ve been able to do so well. We just really came together. It’s great.”
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka’s promising week at the Auckland Open ended in despair as she was forced to withdraw from her first final since 2022 due to an abdominal injury despite leading 6-4 over Clara Tauson. Osaka looked in brilliant form in Sunday’s final as she raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, but her serve speed dropped precipitously and her level dropped rapidly. After closing out the set, a tearful Osaka retired, leaving her in doubt for the Australian Open. Barbora Krejcikova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, confirmed she would miss the Australian Open with a back injury. Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova are also among the no-shows in Melbourne.
In Brisbane, world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka won her 18th career title by recovering from a set down to beat Polina Kudermetova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Sabalenka has now won 27 of her last 28 matches in Australia with two Australian Open titles, this victory in Brisbane and a final in Brisbane last year. On the men’s side, Jiri Lehecka won his second career title after Reilly Opelka was forced to retire while trailing 4-1 in the opening set.