CNN
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The United States celebrated winning the inaugural United Cup Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Italy in the final in Sydney, Australia.
Taylor Fritz, the world No.9, secured victory, defeating big hitting Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) in a tense two-hour-plus match.
When Berrettini sent a forehand long on championship point, the US team ran onto the court to engulf Fritz in jubilant celebration.
Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe had earlier also earned a point for the Americans to give the US an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five final. Madison Keys made it 4-0 with a 6-3 6-2 win over Lucia Bronzetti.
“It’s great. It’s amazing for the team to win this event. We came in with really high hopes, or at least I did, for the event,” Fritz said, according to the official website. “I was really happy to be in that position to clinch the match.”
It had been a dominant display by the Americans in the competition, with the team losing just two matches to finish with a 22-2 record.
The new competition involved 18 countries playing round-robin matches in the Australian cities of Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.