USA sinks Poland to reach United Cup tennis final

WARSAW - The United States beat Poland 5-0 to reach the United Cup tennis final as they won all Saturday's clashes in singles and mixed doubles in Sydney, Australia.

After Friday's matches, the Americans were just one step from the final as Jessica Pegula had stunned world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, while Frances Tiafoe beat Kacper Zuk to gift the US team a 2-0 lead.

On Saturday morning, Fritz killed Poland's hopes. The reigning Indian Wells champion beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5), 7-6(5).

In the first set, the Pole, who was leading 5-4, thwarted two set points, and then the 25-year-old did not handle the pressure in the tie-break to make several unforced mistakes.

Fritz continued the momentum to win 88 percent of his first serve points. Hurkacz fought until the end, but in the second tie-break, he missed two forehands in the crucial moments.

"It was great to get the win today to get us through. I had no doubt that if I were to lose that the rest of the team would have come through. I'm super excited going into the final, and I think we've been the favorites all week," Fritz was quoted as saying by the official site of the tournament just after the match.

Later on, Madison Keys beat Poland's Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2 in the women's singles, and Fritz/Pegula defeated Lukasz Kubot/Alicja Rosolska 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-6 in the mixed doubles.

The United States will battle for gold against Italy who was leading Greece 3-1 in the best-of-five semis.