SYDNEY -- Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff delivered clutch singles victories Sunday night to lead the United States to its second United Cup title in three years.

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After Gauff secured a thrilling 6-4, 6-4 victory over Iga Swiatek that had Ken Rosewall Arena rocking, Fritz delivered the encore with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) win over Hubert Hurkacz in a serve-dominated match that featured 30 aces and only three break points.

The top-seeded Americans began their campaign in Perth, where they cruised through Group A. Gauff and Fritz carried over the exceptional form that defined their standout 2024 seasons -- Gauff winning the WTA Finals Riyadh (including a victory over Swiatek) and Fritz finishing as the runner-up finish at the Nitto ATP Finals. 

Gauff, who did not drop a set in five singles matches, began the year at No.3 in the PIF WTA Rankings. Fritz, at a career-best No.4, dropped his opening match to Felix Auger-Aliassime in Perth but then won four straight.

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"It's amazing. It's almost more fun to win the team events because you have people to celebrate with afterwards," Fritz said. "Coco made it easy for me as the MVP on the team; it definitely helped my job a lot and its great to get it a second time."

Gauff said, "It's great to win a team event, the only team event I've ever won, so I'm super excited."

In a blockbuster showdown between two of the top players in the world, Coco Gauff repeated her feat from the WTA Finals in Riyadh by topping No.2 Swiatek for the second time in a row, setting the tone for Poland’s second consecutive runner-up finish at the United Cup.

Gauff has done her part to begin to close the head-to-head gap against Swiatek, who had won 11 of their previous 13 matches. But after adding coach Matt Daly to her team after the US Open last fall, Gauff has made notable improvements in both her serve and forehand. The two shots were instrumental to her 6-3, 6-4 win over Swiatek during her title run at the WTA Finals in the fall and they proved the difference once again in Sydney. 

"I have the belief that I'm one of the best players in the world and when I play good tennis I'm hard to beat," Gauff said. "Today I think I played some great tennis. I'm glad I was able to get a point for Team USA. It was tough today, I'm not gonna lie."

Fans at Ken Rosewall Arena enjoyed a high-octane 1-hour and 52-minute duel, with the two WTA stars trading feats of power and speed all around the court. Gauff struck first, breaking with a perfect forehand volley to lead 2-0, before Swiatek reeled off three straight games to lead 3-2. 

But in a set that saw Swiatek strike 19 unforced errors to Gauff's nine, the American's superior consistency allowed her to win four of the next five games to win the physical first set. 

Gauff confidently marched through the second set. Not even a double fault on break point could stall the relentless American. She pulled the break back in an intense 10-minute game with her all-court counter-punching, leveling the set to 4-4 with a threaded forehand pass. Swiatek took a medical timeout before serving to stay in the match and Gauff broke one last time to seal the crucial win.

Gauff finished her United Cup singles debut undefeated, with additional wins over Leylah Fernandez, Donna Vekic, Zhang Shuai and Karolina Muchova. Swiatek finished 4-1, with wins over Malena Helgø, Muchova, Katie Boulter and Elena Rybakina.