Coco Gauff has spearheaded Team USA to a phenomenal United Cup campaign. The World No.3, in her debut at the event, is making sure her country reclaims the trophy once again after two years. With a stunning win over Czechia’s Karolina Muchova in the semifinal of the coveted tournament on Saturday, she’s given her team a major lead. Gauff beat the World No.6 in straight sets with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-4. Her heroics have now earned the 20-year-old tennis sensation a remarkable praise from none other than Mark Petchey!

The former British ATP pro took X, on January 4, and simply wrote “The great wall of Coco. Insanely good performance. @UnitedCupTennis @TennisAustralia” He admired the great form Gauff has shown throughout the event. Especially considering that it’s her first-ever United Cup appearance for the American. It’s not the first, however, that Petchey has lauded Gauff.

After her historic title win at the Flushing Meadows, back in September 2023, he issued a warning to her rivals to be wary of her. “It’s gonna be up to all the other players on the tour to kinda counter the way that she is moving the ball around, particularly on that forehand side.”

After taking America into the final four, following the quarterfinal victory against China, Gauff couldn’t resist from expressing her happiness. “thank you perth❤️! starting off 2025 strong by heading into the final four of @unitedcuptennis 🦅💪🏾 see you soon sydney 🫡”. she wrote in her Instagram post on January 2, prior to her SF match against Muchova.

In the QF round, Gauff and Fritz helped Team USA clean sweep China with a clinical performance. They both won their singles encounters. While Gauff beat Zhang Shuai 7-6, 6-2 to keep herself invincible, Taylor Fritz also proved his mettle as he got the best of Zhang Zhizhen. The World No.4 won his tie easily with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4.

Desirae Krawczyk and Robert Galloway’s indomitable pair then took America’s overall lead to 3-0. They defeated Sun Fajing and Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-7(1), 10-3. After 2023, it’s the second time America has entered the top four of the event. Undoubtedly, Gauff has been instrumental in her country’s domination at the third edition of the United Cup. Even Fritz has acknowledged this aspect, while praising her!

Taylor Fritz lauds teammate Coco Gauff for powering USA to United Cup semifinal

During an official interview after USA’s victory over China, Fritz couldn’t resist from admiring Gauff’s talent. Especially her contribution to taking the nation closer to the trophy. “Coco did such a good job putting us ahead and giving me the chance to come out and put us through,” he said, as reported by United Cup’s official website on Wednesday. “There was a little bit of pressure because I didn’t want to be the one who loses it for the team after Coco won all her matches this week,” he added.

On the other hand, Coco Gauff also expressed her satisfaction after registering the win over her Chinese opponent. She did confess that Shuai was quite strong, and she had to put lots of efforts to emerge victorious. “Against Shuai, I had to hit an ace to win the point,” she said, in an official interview, reported by United Cup’s website. Continuing further, she revealed that Zhang “was playing amazing tennis out there. Dennis [Kudla] was saying I digged it out and that’s what it felt like. I was literally on the ground for most of the match.”

“The harder I hit, the harder she was hitting,” she added. “I felt like I couldn’t get her on defense. She was playing so aggressive on me and I felt like I had to go more on my second serves, which brought in more double faults, but if I just put it in it was a return winner. So I had to take my chances.” Gauff concluded.

As of this writing, USA and Czechia’s semifinal battle is still going on. Gauff has provided a valuable 1-0 lead. It will be intriguing to see if Taylor Fritz can take it forward in his singles battle against Tomas Machac. Do you think America will eventually win this match and head into the title clash on Sunday? Let us know in the comments below.