Tennis-United States blank Poland to reach United Cup final

SYDNEY, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Taylor Fritz propelled the United States into the final of the United Cup with a tenacious 7-6(5) 7-6(5) victory over Poland's Hubert Hurkacz before they completed a 5-0 sweep in the $15 million mixed tournament on Saturday.

The red-hot Americans made a strong start to the semi-final having gone ahead 2-0 on Friday after Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe scored convincing victories and world Fritz held his to finish the job against Hurkacz.

The Indian Wells champion Fritz saved two set points while down 5-4 in the opening set as Hurkacz faltered and the American took the lead in the match when his opponent made another error at the end of a tight tiebreak.

Fritz, who won 88% of his first-serve points, a big serve to hold for 6-5 in the second set before claiming the win in another tense tiebreak to send his side through to a title clash with either Italy or Greece.

"It was great to get the win today to get us through. I had doubt that if I were to lose that the rest of the team would have come through," Fritz said.

"But I've played with Team U.S. a lot. I think it's a huge advantage this time having the girls on our team because it just makes the whole team so much stronger.

"I'm super excited going into the final and I think we've been the favourites all week."

Madison Keys then beat Magda Linette 6-4 6-2 to make it 4-0 before Fritz and Pegula rallied from a set down to win the mixed doubles rubber against Lukasz Kubot and Alicja Rosolska 6-7(5) 6-4 10-6 for a clean sweep.

Italy lead their semi-final against Greece 2-0 after Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti won their matches on Friday. Matteo Berrettini can book their place in the final with a victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the evening session.

The final takes place in Sydney on Sunday.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

((Shrivathsa.Sridhar@thomsonreuters.com;))