47 minutes enough for Gauff to make surprising appearance and destroy Polish hopes after 23-hour journey
WTA
After a disastrous end of a season at the 2022 WTA Finals, Coco Gauff showed her tremendous qualities at the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
The 18-year-old American traveled from Fort Worth in Texas to Glasgow in Scotland for almost 24 hours. Gauff found herself in a challenging spot, so her absence from the team's line-up against Poland on Wednesday wasn't surprising.
However, after the first two matches, the score was tied, so a difficult decision had to be made. While Danielle Collins beat Magdalena Frech 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), Madison Keys couldn't seal the tie against Magda Linette, who won the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
For the doubles match, Caty McNally should have joined forces with Taylor Townsend. However, team captain Kathy Rinaldi changed the nomination before the doubles match.
Eventually, Gauff was nominated for doubles alongside her former doubles partner Caty McNally, and what the two youngsters showed on the court can be described as a doubles masterclass.
Despite traveling for 23 hours and experiencing one of the worst tournaments of her career, where she lost six matches in less than a week, Gauff showed her incredible ability to quickly bounce back and focus on the ongoing match.
The American duo started with a couple of breaks in the first set, and after just 19 minutes, they won the first set 6-1. They served incredibly, losing just three points on their serve in the opening set.
Gauff and McNally continued in a similar style also in the second set. Once again, they were able to break both Polish players' serves. Thanks to that, the American duo was able to win the doubles match 6-1, 6-2 in just 47 minutes.
Thanks to their victory, Team US defeated Poland 2-1 and started in the best possible way to secure their spot in the Final Four of the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
