Sydney, Jessica Pegula, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz captured the inaugural United Cup title for the USA after beating Italy 3-0 in the final here on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Fritz clinched the title for his country with a 7-6(4), 7-6 win over Matteo Berrettini in a nail-biting duel between two of the biggest hitters on the ATP Tour to give the USA an unassailable 3-0 lead over Italy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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. I was really happy to be in that position to clinch the match," Fritz said after the win.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Just the emotions when you win and everyone comes running at you, it's amazing," Fritz said. "I don't know if you saw the replay but Frances basically headbutted me!"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pegula and Tiafoe each earned a point for the Americans earlier in the day with defeats of Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti respectively.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pegula gave her country a good start with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Trevisan. Tiafoe then surged through the first set against Musetti when the Italian retired trailing 6-2 due to a right shoulder injury.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The first rubber was far from straightforward for the World No.3. as Trevisan came out firing with an aggressive strategy, and remained committed to front-foot tennis throughout.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pegula found herself forced onto the back foot. Though she led 3-0 and then 4-2 in the first set, Trevisan managed to level at 4-4 after coming up with a series of fizzing forehands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Surprisingly, the set turned on a rare shot that Trevisan backed off. Serving at 4-5, 30-30, a tentative drive volley allowed Pegula to crunch a forehand of her own to reach set point. The American promptly converted it with a superb backhand winner down the line.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pegula settled in the second set, reducing her unforced error tally from 17 to seven. Trevisan's do-or-die approach ultimately didn't pay off as she racked up 31 unforced errors against 14 winners.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tiafoe picked up where Pegula left off, breaking Musetti's serve early and cruising through the opener 6-2, saving all three break points he faced. The Italian increasingly touched his right shoulder as the set wore on before receiving treatment from a physio during a changeover. At the end of the set, Musetti shook hands with Tiafoe and retired.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Then, reigning Indian Wells champion Fritz triumphed over Berrettini in 2 hours and 16 minutes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Berrettini saved the first championship point he faced in the second-set tiebreak by crushing a forehand winner. But after switching sides, Fritz won a gruelling rally to claim what proved to be the deciding mini-break when the Italian missed a forehand on the full stretch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The USA produced a dominant performance throughout the United Cup, dropping just two individual matches. None of their ties were closer than 4-1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Berrettini saved the first championship point he faced in the second-set tiebreak by crushing a forehand winner. But after switching sides, Fritz won a gruelling rally to claim what proved to be the deciding mini-break when the Italian missed a forehand on the full stretch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n