TENNIS: Gauff leads US past Greece into United Cup semis

The U.S. reached the semi-finals of the United Cup mixed team tournament after defeating Greece 2-1 in Perth on Wednesday. Coco Gauff secured the opening singles win against Maria Sakkari and later returned to clinch victory in the doubles, helping the defending champions advance.

Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion, overcame Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 26 minutes to put the U.S. ahead.

The 21-year-old had suffered a three-set loss to world No. 42 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro earlier in the week when the U.S. faced Spain in Group A. However, she started strong against Sakkari, racing to a 5-0 lead. Sakkari fought back with three consecutive games, but Gauff held her serve to take the first set and broke the Greek player twice in the second set to secure the win.

Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas then leveled the tie by defeating world No. 9 Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5. The 27-year-old had little time to celebrate his first top-10 win since 2024, returning to the court just 30 minutes later alongside Sakkari for the doubles decider against Gauff and Christian Harrison.

The doubles match was a rollercoaster, with both teams splitting sets to send the match into a tiebreak. The U.S. surged to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak, and although the Greek duo rallied to 6-6, a perfectly placed volley from Harrison squeezed through Tsitsipas’s legs, sealing a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 victory.

“I thought it was great level throughout. We just played free and aggressive,” Gauff said after the match.

Switzerland is set to face Argentina later on Wednesday.

The 18-nation tournament in Perth and Sydney serves as a warm-up for this month’s Australian Open, the season’s first Grand Slam.

-Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters