Great Britain beaten by US at United Cup despite Katie Boulter stunning world No. 5 Jessica Pegula
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Updated 31/12/2023 at 13:08 GMT
Great Britain are not guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the 2023-24 United Cup after they were beaten in their second rubber by defending champions USA. Things got off to a great start for the Brits when Katie Boulter stunned world No. 5 Jessica Pegula by battling back from a set down to take the win. But the US fought back themselves to take the match.
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Great Britain’s United Cup campaign hit a speed bump as they were beaten 2-1 by defending champions USA, with British No. 1 Katie Boulter the only victor.
Things were looking bleak for GB early on when Jessica Pegula took the opening set against Boulter, with the world No. 5 starting to take control having broken in the first game.
Pegula then broke twice more going into a 3-0 lead to leave Boulter on the brink of defeat.
However, the Brit roared back, breaking the American in three of her next four service games, forcing a decider.
Despite once again losing her opening service game in the final set, Boulter was in a great position at 5-3 up as she found a break.
Pegula, however, broke straight back to give herself the chance to move back onto her own serve, but Boulter kept her cool and found the break she needed to take the win.
Victory over the world No. 5 is the best win of Boulter’s career and maintains her superb record playing in Perth.
“The first set was really tight, and it could have gone either way," Boulter said after the game on Tennis TV.
“She came out heavy in the second and played some really good stuff, and I just tried to fight and stay in the match as much as possible—and somehow found a way.”
Next up, Cameron Norrie battled valiantly in the men’s singles game but he had a hard time against Taylor Fritz, eventually losing in straight sets despite having some scrappy points.
Norrie was broken early in the opener but showed great spirit to battle back, particularly in the ninth game where he saved set point and fought hard to earn the break that led to a tie-break.
That tie-break was close too as the pair exchanged mini breaks but at 5-5 Fritz made the breakthrough, finding the break and then holding on serve.
The second set was more straightforward, with both players struggling to find breaks as the service games were strong.
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However, once again in the ninth game things got tense as Norrie battled back from two break points to get to deuce only to then lose the game from there and then the match.
Fritz was straight back in action for the doubles as he and Pegula took on Boulter and Neal Skupski.
The rest clearly did more for Boulter than Pegula as she and a fresh Skupski took control in the opening set, producing a dominant performance that saw them triumph 6-1.
The second set saw the defending champions wake up and force a tie-break that they won and led to the decider.
The opening exchanges of the ensuing super tie-break were scrappy to say the least. In the opening nine points, serve was held just twice.
What followed was the complete opposite as seven points in a row went by without a break, until eventually the Americans found one to take the win.
With just three teams in each group, the US now know that a win in their next game against hosts Australia will put them through, while Great Britain will have to try and qualify as one of the best runners-up.
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