Katie Boulter's first top five win over Jessica Pegula earlier on New Years Eve wasn't enough to seal the win for Great Britain over the USA as Pegula and Taylor Fritz came back to anchor their team to a 2-1 triumph at the United Cup.
After Pegula's loss, Fritz did what he needed to in order to keep his team in the tie. He defeated Cameron Norrie in two sets 7-6(5), 6-4 to make it 1-1 and keep his country in it. A win would've seen Great Britain add to their tally after defeating Australia and mean they move through to the Quarter-Finals.
It was Boulter again, but not with Norrie as they have experienced doubles specialist, Neal Skupski in their ranks. But it was a 6-1, 6-7(4), 7-10 defeat for Great Britain who took the opening set as USA were all over the place to start the tie. They would find their footing though and came from a break down to win the second in a tie-break and then outplayed them in the match tie-break.
Great Britain will still likely go through with USA looking strong enough to defeat Australia who the former defeated to open up. But a win for Australia would see it very much hang in the balance. An interesting few days ahead in the United Cup and a good start for the USA after the earlier Pegula loss.
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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