Sydney, January 2 (H.S.): Star tennis players Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz knocked China out of the United Cup with victories in their singles matches on Wednesday and pushed top seeded United States of America (USA) into the semi-finals.
Now USA is also in the last four along with Kazakhstan, while the group stage was also completed on the sixth day, in which Poland qualified for the quarter-finals by defeating Czechia 2-1, while host Australia defeated Britain 2-1.
After finishing highest in Perth, China’s chances of an upset in the quarter-finals suffered a setback when in-form Gao Xinyu had to leave the field due to injury.
175th ranked Gao, replacing world number five Zheng Qinwen, performed brilliantly and defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia and Laura Siegemund. 205th-ranked Zhang Shuai put up a valiant performance against Coco Gauff at Perth’s RAC Arena, breaking her serve three times in the opening set. But the world number three rose to the challenge and unleashed her firepower from the baseline to eventually win 7-6 (4), 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes.
World number four Fritz sealed a semifinal spot for the USA with a stunning 6-4, 6-4 win over Zhang Zhizhen in one hour and 20 minutes. The US Open finalist served superbly and took advantage of an error-strewn performance from Zhang, who posted a 1-2 record in the tournament.
Earlier in Perth, Kazakhstan took advantage of the withdrawal of world number two Alexander Zverev to end Germany’s title defence. Two-time Grand Slam finalist Zverev had withdrawn from the tournament before the Australian Open due to a biceps strain. 254th-ranked Daniel Masur had the tough task of replacing Zverev and put up a strong fight, but Alexander Shevchenko came back strongly to give Kazakhstan a place in the last four with a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2 win. World number six Elena Rybakina had earlier put Kazakhstan ahead after a stunning 6-3, 6-1 win over Siegemund. It was the 2022 Wimbledon champion’s third consecutive win, having earlier beaten Jessica Bouzas Manero and Maria Sakkari in the tournament. Earlier in Sydney, world number two Iga Swiatek continued her strong comeback with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former French Open finalist Caroline Muchova.
After Hubert Hurkacz’s three-set loss to Tomas Machac in the men’s singles, Swiatek needed a win to keep Poland’s hopes alive of automatically qualifying for the quarterfinals.
Swiatek teamed up with Hurkacz in the decisive mixed doubles to beat Muchova and Machac 7-6 (3), 6-3 and top Group B.
Hindusthan Samachar
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