Fritz, Gauff proud of efforts at United Cup

The United States captured their second United Cup title on Sunday in Sydney. Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff were proud of their efforts following victory against Poland.

“I had a lot of confidence in Taylor even before this week came,” Gauff said. “So I knew that if I got my point on the board, if I did my job, that the job would be done. So I had full belief in him. Even in the tight moments, he came through.”

Fritz added: “It was great. We played the majority, almost every single match except for one. Coco played first so always put me up 1-0, so I felt like it put so much pressure on me, because I didn't want to be the one to lose it for the team because she already won.

“She's consistently putting us in a winning position where I can go out and know that if I take care of business that we don't need to leave it up to a mixed.”

Fritz won four of his five matches and sealed victory for the United States with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) triumph against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

Gauff won all six matches, not dropping a set en route. After her victories, she pulled out the shovel celebration to the delight of the Sydney crowds.

“[The celebration] came from Denis [Kudla]. I think it started in my match against China,” Gauff said. “I was playing Shuai, and she was playing really great tennis. He was saying, ‘Great digging, keep digging’. Then the shovel celebration came from him. I just kind of took it and ran with it. That was the theme of the week for me.”

Fritz will next head to the Australian Open and hopes to improve further.

“I'd say I'm a 7 out of 10. I think I'm serving really, really well. I'm really happy with how I'm serving. So I'd say that's a 9 or 9.5,” Fritz said. “But I'd say the rest of the game I think can improve a bit. Just in that last match today, I think I moved the best I have moved all week, so I think that's an improvement. I think normally, for me, when I play more matches, I start to move a bit better the more I play.”