World No. 9 Taylor Fritz was the hero of the day as he battled past Italian Matteo Berrettini with a powerhouse performance to steer the Americans to win the inaugural United Cup mixed team tournament title in Sydney on Sunday.

Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula had earlier both won their singles matches to give their country a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five tie, with Fritz delivering victory in winning 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6).

"It's amazing for the team to win this event, we came in with really high hopes," said Fritz. "I'm really happy to be in the position to clinch the match. The emotions when you win are amazing."

Women's world No. 3 Pegula, who burst into the top 10 in 2022 by winning the WTA 1000 Guadalajara tournament, stormed home 6-4, 6-2 against Martina Trevisan.

Tiafoe then surged through the first set 6-2 against Lorenzo Musetti before the Italian retired due to a right shoulder injury.

Tiafoe, ranked 19th in the world, had to fight to win his own opening service game before breaking in the third game and steamrolling his way to a comfortable first set win.

"I thought I was playing at a really high level. I could see he was tugging his shoulder a lot and stayed locked in. I don't want to win this way, especially for my team and myself. I hope Lorenzo feels better."

A dominant U.S. team crushed the Iga Swiatek-led Poland 5-0 to make the decider of the new tournament – which began with 18 nations playing round-robin matches in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney – while Italy outgunned Stefanos Tsitsipas's Greece 4-1.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: Team USA players celebrate after winning the title at the inaugural United Cup mixed team tournament in Sydney, Australia, January 8, 2023. /CFP