SYDNEY: Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz all clocked impressive wins on Tuesday as tennis powerhouses Italy and the United States surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup.

World number three Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat.

That was enough to put the Americans — the 2023 winners — into a last-eight clash with China.

Elena Rybakina’s Kazak­hstan meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final.

In Sydney, the in-form fourth-ranked Paolini demolished France’s Chloe Paquet 6-0, 6-2 to help steer an Italian team missing Jannik Sinner into the knockout round with their opponent yet to be decided.

Iga Swiatek’s Poland play the Czech Republic on Wednesday in a bid to join them, while Britain take on Australia.

World number four Fritz got the ball rolling for the US, adapting his game to Coric’s approach.

He capitalised on a double break to go 4-0 up and went on to secure his maiden win against Coric in 91 minutes.

“At the start he was hitting well and staying with me from the baseline. It was tough to hurt him,” he said. “But I tried to make fewer mistakes and let him make a couple — that was the difference. It was just great to get the win, good to get it done.”

Gauff put the tie beyond Croatia’s reach against Vekic, who scored an upset win against her on the way to a silver medal at the Olympics.

After racing to a 4-1 lead in the first set, former US Open champion Gauff never really took her foot off the pedal.

“That defeat really hurt, but it was really just motivation to do better,” said Gauff, who won eight of the last 11 games. “I’m happy how I served and competed today throughout the entire match.”

Gauff and Fritz were equally impressive in their mixed doubles 6-2, 6-3 win over Croatia’s duo of Petra Marcinko and Ivan Dodig.

Paolini had a memorable 2024, finishing runner-up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and winning her second career title in Dubai.

She also triumphed with Italy in doubles at the Paris Olympics and helped her country to Billie Jean King Cup glory, bringing that form to Australia.

After thrashing Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-1 in her season-opening match, she showed Paquet no mercy in their Group D clash in Sydney. The win send a warning shot heading into the Australian Open.

“I played a really solid match. I was happy with my performance and focused all the time,” she said. “Everything worked pretty well. Not too many mistakes and my level was high.”

Paolini won the first seven games before Paquet got on the scoreboard.

But it was a minor blip with the Italian quickly taking charge again with a flurry of winning volleys to claim victory.

Her team-mate Flavio Cobolli put Italy 1-0 ahead with a battling 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 upset of French world number 14 Ugo Humbert.

It was the second consecutive win of the season for the 22-year-old, who has been steadily climbing the rankings in recent years to his current world number 32.

“It was a great battle to start the season, so I’m really happy about the match,” said Cobolli, who saved a match point in the second set.

Humbert won his first 17 service points in the second set and was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-4 before Cobolli produced a stunning comeback.

The 22-year-old Cobolli then rallied in the third set for the win.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2025