Inaugural United Cup champions Team United States have their sights on Melbourne Park after Taylor Fritz clinched a 3-0 victory in the deciding tie over Italy in the final on Sunday night.
After a late-night celebration featuring bouts of beer pong, the players praised the new tournament, which pitched nations against each other rather than individual players, and backed the format after Rafael Nadal called for a schedule re-think.
“Honestly, I think this event is amazing,” said world No.11 Madison Keys. “All of us want more events like this now just because it was so much fun. And it was so different. And I think the fans obviously really enjoyed it as well, to see ATP and WTA players together.
“I mean, Taylor’s already talking about defending our title next year.”
The man dubbed “Clinch Fritz” by teammate Frances Tiafoe won the championship point for the Americans in a second-set tiebreaker against world No.16 Matteo Berrettini.
“There’s so much more pressure on the matches,” said World No.9 Fritz. “It just feels bigger because you’re playing for other people as well.”
Team USA are the inaugural United Cup champions after defeating Italy in the final last night.Credit:Getty
Fritz said the team let him do his “own thing” in the crucial match. “Everyone has their own process. You don’t want to mess with someone during the match,” he said.
Keys played against Lucia Bronzetti after the championship was already decided, but said she didn’t mind taking to court for the dead rubber to compete for ranking points. “It’s still a valid match,” she said. “We obviously both still wanted to win.”
Team USA shrugged off Nadal’s criticism of the tournament’s format. The Spaniard argued the schedule should change to avoid so many dead rubbers following his loss to Alex de Minaur, which ultimately meant nothing in the context of the tournament because the US had already won their place in the city final over Australia and Spain.
“It’s the first week of the season,” Tiafoe said. “I feel like at the end of the day there’s still a lot on the line.”
Jessica Pegula ahead of her devastating defeat of world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.Credit:Getty
The tournament doled out $15 million in prizemoney and up to 500 ranking points were on offer for players who made the final.
World No.3 Jessica Pegula said her semi-final defeat of top player Iga Swiatek, who was left sobbing after the match, was a “really big” moment for her team’s charge to the final.
“I thought setting the tone that day really helped. We were able to sweep up, which was awesome.”
After a winning stint in Sydney, bonding in escape rooms and Sunday’s champagne-soaked celebration, the US players said the tournament was the perfect prologue to the Australian Open.
“We got the perfect amount of matches, we got confidence, we had a lot of fun and then we get a week going into Melbourne,” said Pegula. “I feel like it’s the ideal situation.”
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