Team USA celebrate with the trophy.
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Reuters
CNN
—
The United States celebrated winning the inaugural United Cup Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Italy in the final in Sydney, Australia.
Taylor Fritz, the world No.9, secured victory, defeating big hitting Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) in a tense two-hour-plus match.
When Berrettini sent a forehand long on championship point, the US team ran onto the court to engulf Fritz in jubilant celebration.
Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe had earlier also earned a point for the Americans to give the US an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five final. Madison Keys made it 4-0 with a 6-3 6-2 win over Lucia Bronzetti.
“It’s great. It’s amazing for the team to win this event. We came in with really high hopes, or at least I did, for the event,” Fritz said, according to the official website. “I was really happy to be in that position to clinch the match.”
Madison Keys in action against Lucia Bronzetti.
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Reuters
It had been a dominant display by the Americans in the competition, with the team losing just two matches to finish with a 22-2 record.
The new competition involved 18 countries playing round-robin matches in the Australian cities of Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.