Coco Gauff laid down a marker forward of the Australian Open by beating Iga Swiatek for the second time in a row to assist USA beat Poland within the United Cup.
Gauff adopted her victory over Swiatek on the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November with a 6-4 6-4 win in Sydney on Sunday earlier than Taylor Fritz defeated Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-4) to present USA an unassailable 2-0 lead forward of the doubles rubber.
World No 3 Gauff stated after seeing off world No 2 Swiatek: “I have the belief that I’m one of the best players in the world and when I play good tennis I’m hard to beat.”
Gauff sprinted right into a 2-0 lead within the opening set, solely to be pegged again by Swiatek and fall 3-2 behind, however she pounced on 19 unforced errors from the Pole to reel off 4 of the subsequent 5 video games.
Gauff double-faulted to lose serve within the second set however earned that break again on the finish of a 10-minute recreation with a forehand go to stage the rating at 4-4.
She then broke Swiatek once more to win the match after her opponent took a medical timeout as she took her singles file on this yr’s United Cup to 5-0, after earlier victories over Leylah Fernandez, Donna Vekic, Zhang Shuai and Karolina Muchova.
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Highlights of the United Cup tie between Nice Britain’s Katie Boulter and Poland’s Iga Swiatek
Swiatek’s loss to Gauff was her sole defeat with the four-time main winner beating Malene Helgo, Muchova, Nice Britain’s Katie Boulter and 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
The Australian Open begins on January 12 with Gauff and Swiatek trying to win it for the primary time.
Their finest outcomes to date are reaching the semi-finals – Swiatek in 2022 earlier than she misplaced to Danielle Collins and Gauff final yr when she fell to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka equipped for her title defence by profitable the Brisbane Worldwide, coming from a set all the way down to beat world No 107 Polina Kudermetova 4-6 6-3 6-2.
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