Coco Gauff beat Iga Swiatek for the second time in a row ahead of the Australian Open when he led the United States to a 1-0 win over Poland in the United States Cup final.
Gauff followed up his win over Swiatek in November’s WTA Finals in Riyadh with a 6-4 6-4 win in Sydney on Sunday before Taylor Fritz’s men’s match against Hubert Hurkac.
The world number 3 said after seeing off the world number 2. “I am convinced that I am one of the best players in the world and when I play good tennis, I am hard to beat.
Sviatek committed 19 unforced errors in the opening set
Gauff raced to a 2-0 lead in the opening set, only to have Swiatek break back to fall 3-2 behind, but she conceded 19 unforced errors from the Pole to reel off four of the next five games.
Gauff double-faulted and lost serve in the second set, but got the break with a forehand pass at the end of the 10-minute match to tie the score at 4-4.
She then broke Sviatek again and won the match after her opponent passed a medical as she took her singles record to 5-0 at this year’s United Cup, against Leila Fernandez, Donna Vekic, Zhang Shua and Karolina Muchova after previous victories.
The Australian Open starts on January 12, with Gauff and Swiatek looking to win it for the first time.
Their best results so far have been a semi-final with Sviatek in 2022, before she lost to Daniel Collins and Gauff last year when she fell to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka prepared to defend her title by winning the Brisbane International, coming from a fight back to defeat world number 107 Polina Kudermetova 4-6 6-3 6-2.
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