WASHINGTON:
The U.S. reached the semi-finals of the United Cup blended crew event after beating Greece 2-1 in Perth on Wednesday, as Coco Gauff defeated Maria Sakkari earlier than returning to clinch victory for the defending champions within the doubles.
Gauff, a two-times Grand Slam champion, beat Sakkari 6-3 6-2 in an hour and 26 minutes to place the U.S. in entrance.
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The 21-year-old had misplaced in three units to world quantity 42 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro when the U.S. took on Spain in Group A on Monday, however she shot out of the blocks in opposition to Sakkari and shortly racked up a 5-0 lead.
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Sakkari confirmed some resistance, successful three straight video games, however Gauff held serve to take the opening set earlier than breaking the Greek twice within the second set to wrap up the win.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas then earned a 6-4 7-5 win over world quantity 9 Taylor Fritz to stage the tie.
The 27-year-old was afforded little time to savour his first prime 10 win since 2024, nonetheless, returning to the court docket simply half an hour later alongside Sakkari to tackle Gauff and Christian Harrison.
Momentum swung wildly within the hard-fought decider, with each groups taking a set apiece to ship the match right into a tiebreak.
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The U.S. raced right into a 5-0 lead within the tiebreak, and although the Greek duo rallied to stage at 6-6 a superbly positioned volley from Harrison squeezed via Tsitsipas’s legs and sealed a 4-6 6-4 10-8 victory.
“I believed it was nice stage all through, we simply performed free and aggressive,” Gauff stated.
Switzerland will face Argentina afterward Wednesday.
The 18-nation occasion in Perth and Sydney serves as a warm-up for this month’s Australian Open – the season’s first Grand Slam.
