Coco Gauff jumped a marker ahead of the Australian Open by defeating Iga Swiatek for the second time in a row as she beat the USA 1-0 in the United Cup final against Poland.
Gauff followed up her win over Swiatek at the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November with a 6-4 6-4 win in Sydney on Sunday ahead of Taylor Fritz’s men’s match against Hubert Hurkacz.
The world No 3 said after the world No 2: “I believe I’m one of the best players in the world and when I play good tennis I’m hard to beat.
Gauff sprinted to a 2-0 lead in the opening set, only to be clawed back by Swiatek to fall 3-2 behind, but she pounced on 19 unforced errors from the Pole to reel off four of the next five games.
Gauff double-faulted to lose serve in the second set, but won that break at the end of a 10-minute game with a forehand to level the score at 4-4.
She then broke Swiatek again to win the match after her opponent took a medical timeout to take her singles record at this year’s United Cup to 5-0, following earlier wins over Leylah Fernandez, Donna Vekic, Zhang Shuai and Karolina Muchova.
The Australian Open begins on January 12 with Gauff and Swiatek looking to win it for the first time.
Their best results so far are reaching the semi-finals – Swiatek in 2022 before losing to Danielle Collins and Gauff last year, when she fell to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka prepared for her title defense by winning the Brisbane International, coming from a set down to defeat world number 107 Polina Kudermetova 4-6 6-3 6-2
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