Tiafoe, Pegula Give United States Commanding Lead Over Poland
Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula earned Team United States a commanding 2-0 lead over Team Poland on Friday at the United Cup Final Four in Sydney.
With a 1-0 advantage in hand, Tiafoe played with full confidence in a 6-3, 6-3 win against Poland's Kacper Zuk. Tiafoe has won all four of his matches at the inaugural United Cup, losing only one set.
The 24-year-old, who enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022, made a quick start and never looked back. Although Zuk provided resistance, especially once the Pole fell behind early in the second set, he was unable to put the American into much difficulty.
Tiafoe triumphed against Zuk, who replaced Daniel Michalski (illness) after one hour and 20 minutes. He saved all five break points he faced inside Ken Rosewall Arena.
“I didn't even know my first opponent I was supposed to play. So when they switched it, I was, like, Alright, great, I'm in the same position I was,” Tiafoe said. “It was kind of, whatever. I was just going to kind of wing it and see what happens. Feel the guy out a little bit and kind of see what happens. Try to just worry about my side of the court and we'll figure it out.”
The United States' No. 1 men's singles player, World No. 9 Taylor Fritz, will have an opportunity to close out the tie Saturday morning when he takes on World No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz in a battle of Top 10 players.
Photo Credit: Tennis Australia/James Gourley
The key to the day's action came earlier Friday, when Jessica Pegula scored her first win over a reigning World No. 1, racing past Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes.
Pegula, whose previous career-best win by ranking had been over then-World No. 2 Naomi Osaka in the second round of Rome in 2021, had lost to Swiatek in all three of their 2022 encounters. But she had one prior victory to draw on, in the second round of Washington in 2019 en route to her own maiden title, and added to that in style.
“I played her today, conditions are totally different than anywhere else I played her. Obviously maybe I had a little bit of an advantage, they just flew in yesterday,” Pegula said. “Definitely the fastest conditions I have played her [in]. Every other place I've played her has been pretty slow. I think that favoured me a lot, and I was able to use that to my advantage and play a really super clean match. I think I just was able to execute my game plan probably better than I have previous times.”
Swiatek was slow out of the blocks, losing the first seven points of the match — five with forehand errors. A slew of terrific winners enabled her to break Pegula back from 40/0, but it was the American who maintained her initial momentum.
Pegula seemed thoroughly at home on a court she has competed on throughout the United Cup's group stages. The 28-year-old teed off repeatedly on Swiatek's serves, firing three clean return winners en route to breaking for 4-1. Not only was her first-strike tennis in fine fettle, but Pegula was also able to out-rally Swiatek in the highest-octane baseline exchanges of the day, ultimately tallying 21 winners to the Pole's 18.
Swiatek showed intermittent flashes of inspiration with some excellent volleying and overheads, but none led to any sustained momentum. In the first set, Pegula won 15 of her first 18 return points; in the second, she lost only five points behind her serve and did not face a break point.