Gauff, Paolini lead USA, Italy to United Cup quarterfinals

Photo: Instagram/@cocogauff

Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, and Taylor Fritz had amazing wins on Tuesday, helping Italy and the United States reach the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3, Coco Gauff, won easily against Croatia’s Donna Vekic with a 6-4, 6-2 score. This win was especially sweet for Gauff, who had lost to Vekic during the Paris Olympics. Gauff was happy with her performance, saying, “I’m happy with how I served and competed today throughout the entire match. We’re through to the quarter-finals—let’s go!”

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Taylor Fritz also had a great win, defeating Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 under the hot Perth sun. Fritz, who was the No. 4 player in the world, played smart to beat Coric, saying, "At the start, he was hitting well and staying with me from the baseline. It was tough to hurt him. But I tried to make fewer mistakes and let him make a couple—that was the difference.” This win helped the U.S. team, who were the 2023 champions, to move into a quarter-final match against China.

Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan team will face Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other quarter-final in Perth.

In Sydney, Jasmine Paolini performed excellently, beating France’s Chloe Paquet 6-0, 6-2. Paolini’s strong play helped Italy reach the knockout round, even though they were missing Jannik Sinner. The opponent for Italy in the quarter-finals is still to be decided. Paolini was in great form after a successful 2024, where she was a runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon, and won her second career title in Dubai. She also won a doubles title with Italy at the Paris Olympics and helped Italy win the Billie Jean King Cup. Paolini said, “I played a really solid match. I was happy with my performance and focused all the time. Everything worked pretty well.”

In her match against Paquet, Paolini started strong, winning the first seven games. Paquet finally got on the scoreboard, but it didn’t stop Paolini, who quickly regained control and finished with a series of winning volleys to secure the victory.

Earlier, Paolini’s teammate Flavio Cobolli helped Italy take the lead with a surprising win against French world No. 14 Ugo Humbert. Cobolli came from behind to win 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-2. This gave Italy a 1-0 advantage.

On Wednesday, Iga Swiatek’s Poland will face the Czech Republic in a bid to join Italy and the U.S. in the quarter-finals. Also, Britain will play against Australia in another exciting match.

Italy and the United States are now looking forward to their quarter-final matches in the United Cup, while Kazakhstan and Germany will also face off in an exciting battle.