United Cup: USA stars Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz full of confidence ahead of quarter-final against China

American stars Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz might not be firing on all cylinders yet, but are on the right track ahead of Wednesday’s United Cup quarter-final against China in Perth. The women’s world no.3 and men’s world no.4 lost a combined 16 games against Croatia in their singles and mixed doubles ties en route to a 3-0 clean sweep and a spot in the last eight at RAC Arena. China are looming for the Americans on Wednesday, with a spot in Sydney’s semifinals on the line, but after three comprehensive wins over a testing Croatian effort, confidence is sky high for the USA. Gauff took just 90 minutes to dispatch women’s world no.19 Donna Vekic, overcoming a competitive to win 6-4 6-2 and make up for her loss to the Olympic silver medallist in Paris. Fritz took around the same time to beat Borna Coric 6-3 6-2, before joining forces with Gauff to win their doubles tie 6-2 6-3. For Gauff, the appeal of the United Cup was not just the friendly, team-orientated atmosphere, but the promise of two strong singles matches, and the 20 year-old said the tournament had delivered, putting her in a good place ahead of the Australian Open. “I can’t ask for anything else. It’s definitely a productive start against two really great players,” she said. “I was a little bit worried, having to start the season off against tough opponents, but I managed pretty well.” Fritz meanwhile, was happy to overcome his surprise loss to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday with a win over Coric, the former world no.12. “It was smooth for me. After the match I had two days ago, it was really good for me just to get a win in straight sets,” Fritz said. “He was playing pretty well in the beginning — from the ground, serving well, going from the baseline. “He was changing direction, hitting the ball well, not really making mistake so I told myself I just needed to stay in it, see if he’s going to keep this up the whole time and go from there. Gauff said being the world no.3 came with the territory of having a target on your back, and acknowledged China’s Xinyu Gao would be full of confidence after the rank outsider had scored two upset singles wins in Perth. “I watched a couple of her matches, and she’s having an incredible week. I expect her to play loose. She has nothing to lose and I’m playing in good form too, so it’s going to be a fun one,” she said. “Anytime you have to play someone who has nothing to lose, you know they’re going to bring their best tennis. “But I feel like at this point in my career, the higher ranked you are, the harder people play you and so at this point, I just expect it.” The last and only time Fritz played Zhizhen Zhang, he was on course for a victory in Madrid in 2023, only for the Chinese world no.45 to turn the tables and come away with a three-set win decided by two tiebreaks. “I remember having a lot of match points and losing that match. I remember it was such a smooth-feeling match, up a set and a break, I was holding really easily, and he broke me once, and it just turned into a battle,” Fritz said ahead of the pair’s match on New Year’s Day. “It’s going to be tight. He’s a good player, a very good server, he’s going to be tough to break. So it’s gonna come down to who can protect their serve and win some of those big points.”