Team USA Wins 2025 United Cup After Fritz's Thrilling Win Over Hurkacz
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Team USA are the 2025 United Cup champions after Taylor Fritz's win over Hubert Hurkacz in the final tie.
Like every team at the 2025 United Cup, the United States sent a relatively big team to the team competition. Team Captain Michael Russell, who is Fritz's coach, led the team consisting of Fritz, Coco Gauff, Denis Kudla, Danielle Collins, Robert Galloway, and Desirae Krawczyk.
In reality, Gauff and Fritz played all the important matches, but also other players were in play during the week. Krawczyk first teamed up with Galloway to beat China's Zhang Shuai and Sun Fajing, beating them 6-3, 6-7(1), 10-3.
Then Krawcyzk also played with Kudla. The duo beat the Czech Republic's Gabriela Knutson and Patrik Rikl 7-5, 6-0. Both of these matches were dead rubbers when the United States led already 2-0. Collins was the only player who didn't compete, but she was certainly the No. 1 supporter.
After winning both round-robin matches and beating China and the Czech Republic, Team USA took on Poland in the final of the competition, meaning the top two seeded teams met in the final.
That meant that the final opponent was the strongest possible for both teams, and it was evident by the battles on the tennis court at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Coco Gauff first stunned Iga Swiatek, giving USA a 1-0 lead. Fritz could have converted this lead into a win, while Hurkacz wanted to send the tie into the deciding mixed doubles match.
Both have already last in the competition. Fritz lost his first match to Felix Auger-Aliassime, while the Polish player started with a two-match losing streak. He was first beaten by Casper Ruud and then by Tomas Machac.
In this match of two great servers, Fritz started better, breaking Hurkacz's serve in the fifth game of the first set, which gave him a 3-2 lead. He then controlled his serve for the remainder of the set, winning it 6-4.
The American player then had a break point in the first game of the second set, but he couldn't use it. It seemed that the set would have to be decided in a tie-break, but Hurkacz won eight consecutive points to end the set.
A lucky net cord helped him to convert his first break point of the match, which was also a set point in this case. The Pole won the second set 7-5, extending the final tie by at least one more set.
In the final set, neither of the players managed to work their way to a break point, so it had to be decided in a tie-break. Hurkacz had a better start, mini-breaking his opponent to lead 2-0.
But Fritz quickly responded, tying the score at 2-2. The American player then added another mini-break and held his serve for the remainder of the tie-break to win it 7-4, winning the match 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4), and securing the 2025 United Cup for the United States.
It's their second triumph in this competition, which has been running since 2023 when they first won it. Last year, Germany won the tournament, with Poland also finishing as runners-up.
Swiatek's reaction to the United Cup loss
This loss was again disappointing for Swiatek, who was emotional during her loss but spoke with a smile on her face after the final.
"I wanted to thank the team, because as you could see on the bench, we had such an amazing atmosphere even though this event is exhausting, this is what makes it so special and amazing."
"Having the support of you guys. Thank you for that. It gives us a lot of energy. Congrats to Team USA. Great job. This second time, you’re winning against us. Hopefully, the last. We’ll do our best. You guys are amazing athletes."
Gauff's reaction to the United Cup victory
Gauff, on the other hand, was obviously delighted by her team's triumph. This was her debut, and she managed to turn it into a victory, remaining undefeated throughout the week.
"I want to congratulate team Poland on a great week. You guys are a really talented team. Wish you guys all the best at Australian Open. I’d like to thank our captain and my team. You were the best support ever."
"This is my first United Cup. I had so much fun. This is exactly what I wanted.. just to have fun on the court. There was a lot of pressure but you made it incredibly fun. I appreciate you guys and I’ll keep digging for you the rest of the year."
