Gauff-Led Team USA Crushes Croatia To Secure United Cup Quarter-Final

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Tuesday, 31 December 2024 at 12:00
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Coco Gauff led her country to yet another win at the 2025 United Cup, this time beating Croatia to secure the quarter-final.

The United States won the inaugural edition of the United Cup, but in 2024, they couldn't replicate the success. In 2025, a new player joined the team, and Gauff, so far, has proven to be the decisive player.

In the first tie against Canada, the 20-year-old player first bested Leylah Fernandez, and then she also returned for the mixed doubles to secure the win after Taylor Fritz's loss in singles.

Against Croatia, the men's singles match was played first, as Fritz took on Borna Coric. Similarly to his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the American player didn't face a single break point in the first set and won it 6-3.

In the second set, he wanted to avoid losing the lead as he did against the Canadian player, but he was tested. Fritz broke his opponent's serve twice and led 5-2 when he was serving for the match. Again, until that point, he didn't face a single break point.

But the American player felt the pressure again, facing two break points when serving for the set. Luckily for him, this time, he was able to save them, easily winning the match 6-3, 6-2.

The women's singles match came second, and Gauff had a chance to seal the deal for the United States. However, her opponent was Donna Vekic, so she had to show her best if she wanted to beat the WTA World No. 19.

Gauff got herself a swift 4-1 lead in the first set, but she then lost her serve despite leading 30-0. Still, that was enough for the 20-year-old player to win the first set of the match 6-4.

In the second set, Gauff avoided facing any break points despite being 0-30 down on her serve twice. It was an almost flawless set from her, as she used two out of two break points that she had, winning the match easily 6-4, 6-2 to secure her country's spot in the quarter-finals of the 2025 United Cup.

The two Americans then also teamed up on the mixed doubles court again, taking on Ivan Dodig and Petra Marcinko to complete the perfect tie with a 6-2, 6-3 win over the Croatian pair.

USA's quarter-final opponent will be China, who are having an inspired week, especially WTA player Xinyu Gao, who managed to put together some solid performances. Gauff was asked about her, and she was aware of the Chinese player's qualities.

"Yeah, I watched a couple of her matches, and she's having an incredible week, obviously. Yeah, I expect her to play loose. She has nothing to lose. Yeah, I feel I'm playing in good form too, so it's going to be a fun one."
"I mean, obviously, yeah, any time you have to play someone who has nothing to lose, it's tough. You know they're going to bring their best tennis. But I feel like at this point in my career, the higher ranked you are, the harder people play you. I think at this point I just expect it."

Fritz's opponent will be Zhizhen Zhang, who is also a very solid player, and the American was also asked to preview his match, remembering their meeting from 2023, which the Chinese player won.

"I remember having a lot of match points and losing that match (smiling). I remember it was such, it was such a just smooth-feeling match. Like up a set and a break, I was holding really easily, and then he broke me once and it just turned into a battle (smiling)."
"But yeah, I mean, it's going to be tight. He's a good player. Very good server. He's going to be tough to break. It's going to come down to who can protect their serve and kind of win some of those big points."
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