US becomes 1st United Cup champion with 3 straight-set wins over Italy

SYDNEY, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States was crowned the champion of the first edition of the United Cup mixed team tennis event on Sunday after clinching three straight-set wins over Italy in the final.

United States' Taylor Fritz, left, is congratulated by Italy's Matteo Berrettini following their match in the final of the United Cup tennis event in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (Photo: AP)

The decisive men's singles rubber between world No. 16 Matteo Berrettini of Italy and world No. 9 Taylor Fritz of the United States lasted two hours and 16 minutes, with both sets dragged into nerve-racking tie-breaks.

Leading 2-0 in their previous head-to-head series, the 25-year-old Fritz took his second championship point and elicited an unforced error from his Italian opponent in a rally, which sealed his 7-6(4), 7-6 (6) victory on the scoreboard and extended the advantage of the United States to an insurmountable 3-0.

"It's great. It's amazing for the team to win this event. We came in with really high hopes, or at least I did, for the event," Fritz said in a post-game interview on court. "I was really happy to be in that position to clinch the match."

Earlier, world No. 3 Jessica Pegula made a good start for the United States by easing past Italy's Martina Trevisan 6-4, 6-2 in 90 minutes. Following Pegula's step, Frances Tiafoe added another point to his country after a 35-minute encounter against Lorenzo Musetti.

Dropping the opening set 6-2, the world No. 23 Italian retired from the game due to an injury.

"I thought I was playing at a really high level. Obviously, at the end, I can see that he has started to tug his shoulder a lot and stay locked in. I don't want to win this way, especially for my team and myself," said Tiafoe.

"I hope Lorenzo feels better," he added.