USA win United Cup as Coco Gauff lays down marker against Iga Swiatek In her short time as a professional tennis player, even as her career flourished and she established herself as one of the best in the world, Coco Gauff’s great progress was often overshadowed by the match-up she just could not solve.
Gauff’s win over Swiatek, the world No 2, paved the way for the USA to win the United Cup for the second time in the tournament’s three years as they defeated Poland 2-0.
Gauff and Swiatek are undoubtedly the two best athletes on the WTA tour and as they both players desperately tried to dictate and control the baseline, they also defended spectacularly, chasing down balls that would be certain winners against any other player, resetting points and constantly flipping defence into a tack in the blink of an eye.
On Sunday evening at the United Cup in Sydney, Gauff registered her second consecutive win over Swiatek, toppling the five-time grand slam champion 6-4, 6-4 after two hours of sublime tennis from both champions.
By last June, Gauff had lost 11 of her first 12 matches against Iga Swiatek, an opponent she is likely to play for many more years.
