Day two at the United Cup saw the same teams that had opened play return to wrap up the remainder of their matches. There were notable wins in the singles encounters while despite the players’ best efforts, some teams weren’t able to make a comeback.
Earlier in the morning session in Sydney, Petra Kvitova began the day by giving the Czech Republic its first match win in the event. The former world no. 2 defeated world no. 3 7-6(6), 6-4 in an hour and 59 minutes. However, the United States bounced back into the Group C match as Frances Tiafoe won his match against Tomas Machac after the latter retired midway.
Tiafoe was leading Machac 6-3, 2-4 at the time. Later Pegula and Taylor Fritz beat Marie Bouzkova and Jiri Lehecka 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the mixed doubles match to give the US a 4-1 victory. In the evening session at the same venue, Great Britain won its Group D match against Australia.
Harriet Dart defeated Maddison Inglis 6-4, 6-4 to give Britain a 3-0 lead. And although Jason Kubler beat Dan Evans in their men’s singles match, it was too late for Australia in the match-up.
United Cup: France and Greece dominate
In Perth, the Group A match between Greece and Bulgaria saw the former claim a 4-1 win.
Maria Sakkari defeated Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 27 minutes of play. Bulgaria’s sole win of the day came courtesy of Dimitar Kuzmanov. Kuzmanov won against Michail Pervolarakis, 6-1, 6-1 in merely 67 minutes.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Sakkari went on to win the mixed doubles match 6-4, 6-4 against Gergana Topavalova and Adrian Andreev. Caroline Garcia and Adrian Mannarino helped France build a 4-0 lead in their Group F match against Argentina in Perth.
Garcia dropped only two games against Nadia Podoroska, sweeping past her 6-2, 6-0 in just 64 minutes. Mannarino was just as efficient as he conceded only one game against Federico Coria, winning their match, 6-1, 6-0 in 62 minutes.
Lastly, in Brisbane, Italy edged past Brazil 3-2 in their Group E match. Lucia Bronzetti defeated Laura Pigossi 6-0, 6-2 in an hour and 11 minutes. In the men’s singles, Italian no. 2 Matteo Berrettini won 6-4, 7-6(7) against Thiago Monteiro.
The mixed doubles match saw the Brazilian team of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos clinch a 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-4 win over the Italian team of Camilla Rosatello and Berrettini. Switzerland also finished with a one-sided 4-0 win against Kazakhstan in their Group B match in Brisbane.
In the women’s singles, Jil Teichmann won against Zhibek Kulambayeva 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 22 minutes. Stan Wawrinka won his men’s singles match against Alexander Bublik, 6-3, 7-6(3) in 90 minutes. Saturday at the United Cup will see Spain and Rafael Nadal debut in the event.
Spain’s placed in Group D along with Australia and Great Britain. Spain’s first match will be against the latter team. Photo Credit: Petra Kvitova Twitter
