United States and Italy caress the final

The United States and Italy took a giant step towards the final of the United Cup after the victories of Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe over Iga Swiatek (6-2 and 6-2) and Kacper Zuk (6-3 and 6-3), and of Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti on Maria Sakkari (6-3, 6-7 and 7-5) and Stefanos Sakellaridis (6-1 and 6-1).

Especially painful were the defeats of Poland, which showed the pain on Swiatek’s face for not having been able to give points to his country. And it is that Pegula and Tiafoe had no mercy on their rivals. They passed over Swiatek, who ended their meeting in tears, and Zuk, who hardly resisted and gave up his point in just one hour and twenty minutes. Now, Poland will need a miracle to be able to fight for the title. This Saturday they will have to win all three of their matches and it will be in the hands of Hubert Hurkacz, who will face Taylor Fritz and Magda Linette, who will face Madison Keys. In the mixed double, the couple formed by Swiatek and Hurkacz will face Pegula and Fritz.

Swiatek, number one in the world, ended his match against Pegula devastated and later acknowledged that his rival was superior and regretted not having been able to give Poland a point: “I have not been up to it. I saw myself far from my maximum physical, mental and tennis level. That, against a player like Pegula, implies falling. She is one of the best players in the world and has never let me play comfortably. It is very hard to fall when you represent your country,” she said.

In the other tie, Italy also picked up their first two points over Greece after the victory of Martina Trevisan over Maria Sakkari (6-3, 6-7 and 7-5) and of Lorenzo Musetti over Stefanos Sakellaridis (6-1 and 6-1), who barely lasted an hour and three minutes on the track. Now, Greece, like Poland, must win all three of its matches to be in the final. Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Matteo Berrettini, Despina Papamichail will face Lucia Bronzetti and the duo formed by Sakkari and Tsitsipas will play against Camilla Rosatello and Musetti.