Frances Tiafoe secured victory for Team United States against Team Czech Republic at the United Cup Friday when Tomas Machac was forced to retire due to an ankle injury.
The American led 6-3, 2-4 after 89 minutes when Machac turned his ankle while he was trying to retrieve a forehand. The World No. 97 was able to rise to his feet, but after a consultation with the medic and his team, he could not continue.
Having taken a 2-0 lead into Day 2, the United States needed just one more win to seal the tie. But, in the opening match of the day, Petra Kvitova wrote a new chapter in her history of heroics for the Czech Republic to half the deficit. The two-time Wimbledon champion saved seven set points in the opening set to defeat World No. 3 Jessica Pegula, 7-6(6), 6-4 in Sydney.
Tiafoe then arrived onto Ken Rosewall Arena and produced an energetic first set performance against Machac to gain control. The World No. 19 demonstrated great agility to cover all areas of the court, hammering forehands and showing deft touch around the net to lead.
Tiafoe ended last season impressively, reaching the quarter-finals at Rolex Paris Masters. In his first match of the new campaign, the US Open semi-finalist continued from where he had left off, earning an early break to gain control against Machac in their first ATP Head2Head meeting. The American was sharp on return throughout the first set, winning 75 per cent (9/12) of points on Machac’s second delivery to put the Czech under continued pressure, sealing the set with an ace.
Having claimed the opener, Tiafoe started the second set slowly, falling 0-3 behind. However, with the match seemingly moving to a decider, Machac took a heavy fall at 3-6, 2-4, deuce and was unable to continue.
With the score at 3-1, Pegula then rebounded from her singles disappointment quickly, teaming up with Taylor Fritz to close the tie with a win. The Americans came through in the super-tiebreak, beating Marie Bouzkova and Jiri Lehecka, 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 to finish with a 4-1 victory.
“I feel like on our team there’s a lot of different options and different pairings and the mixed could be important down the line,” Fritz said. “We want to figure out what will be our best team or at least get the rust off. The whole thing can be decided by the mixed doubles so we want to know who we want to go with in a big match.”
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Earlier, Kvitova edged Pegula on Ken Rosewall Arena. The 80-minute opening set was a supreme tug-o-war. Neither player saw a break point through the first eight games of the match, leading to a dramatic finish that saw a combined 13 set points come and go between the two. Pegula gamely saved six set points to hold to 5-5 and then broke Kvitova straight away to earn a chance to serve out the set.
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This time it was Kvitova’s turn to come back from the brink. The former World No. 2 fired winner after winner from 6-5, 40-0 down to save four set points and break Pegula for the first time, forcing a tiebreak.
Again Kvitova fell behind and again she roared back. From 5-1 down in the tiebreak, Kvitova went on to save three more set points before earning her eighth set point at 7-6 and finally converting to seal the set.
After her first-set escape, Kvitova broke Pegula twice to build a quick 3-0 lead and managed the closing stages of the set to kick off her 2023 season with a Top 5 win.
“We keep fighting,” Kvitova said. “I think USA is such a great team with great players in the team. We are not really favorites here, but we are fighting every match, every point. That’s our team spirit.”
The victory avenges Kvitova’s loss to Pegula in the US Open’s Round of 16 last fall and extended her edge in their head-to-head to 3-1.
Team United States plays Team Germany in its final Group C tie starting on Monday. Team Czech Republic will look to respond when it takes on Alexander Zverev’s nation on Saturday.