Perth, Dec 26 (IANS) Top-seeded Americans Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff found time to visit Western Australia’s iconic Rottnest Island on the eve of the start of the new tennis season on Friday at the United Cup, the prestigious mixed-gender team competition which is a major stop in the build-up for the year’s first Grand Slam, Australian Open. United Cup play in Sydney begins on Saturday.
Fritz, at a career-high No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, and World No. 3 Gauff strolled the island’s picturesque Basin, posed for selfies with the native quokkas, and enjoyed a famous ‘Cray Dog’, a Western Australian-inspired lobster roll.
Gauff was joined by her parents and younger brothers, Codey and Cameron. “It’s great to bring my family here. It’s my first Christmas away from home. It was important for them to be able to come with me,” Gauff said. “They’re on Christmas break, so for them to be able to see a different part of the world is cool.”
Fritz was part of the United States championship team at the inaugural event in 2023. Gauff, who ended her 2024 season on a high with victory at the WTA Finals, is making her tournament debut.
“It’s actually my third time in Perth as I played ATP Cup here in 2020, so I’m pretty familiar with the city and I’m happy to be back in Perth,” said Fritz, who ended the 2024 season by reaching the ATP Finals championship match and with a 53-23 match record according to Infosys ATP Stats. “Coco and I got some experience playing mixed doubles at the Olympics, so hopefully that will help us.”
Despite being the top seeds, Fritz said the American team needed to attend to short-term goals. “We’ve got to focus on getting out of the group because we didn’t even do that last year. We’ve got to look at the teams in front of us before we start looking too far ahead.”
Action begins on Friday in Perth with Kazakhstan taking on Spain and China meeting Brazil and Saturday in Sydney. Both cities host group-play and knockout quarterfinals, with the semifinals and final to be played exclusively in Sydney on January 4-5. The U.S. play their first match on Sunday evening with two highly anticipated singles matches. Fritz will play Felix Auger-Aliassime, whom he leads 2-0 in their ATP head-to-head series. Gauff will meet former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.
–IANS
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