United Cup: Bencic, Fernandez Star In Switzerland, Canada Tie Victories

Dominic Striker, Belinda Bencic, United cup, Switzerland
Dominic Stricker, Belinda Bencic (photo: Tennis Australia/James Gourley)

SYDNEY/PERTH/WASHINGTON, December 28, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

In Sydney and Perth, there was no lack of drama as the second day of the United Cup mixed teams event unfolded across both Australian coastal cities. To wit, both Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez played vital roles in lifting their respective countries to a pair of 2-1 victories. First, each won points during their women’s singles matches. Later, they helped clinch their ties by contributing points in mixed doubles.

Two other ties were decided by the outcome of mixed doubles as Argentina upset host Australia and Greece battled past Spain, which was decided by a match tie-break.

Bencic and Stricker win deciding mixed doubles over France

Belinda Bencic and Dominic Stricker won a tie-deciding mixed doubles tussle to lead Switzerland to a 2-1 triumph over France in Sydney. It brought back memories of watching Bencic and Roger Federer win the last Hopman Cup title for the Swiss back in 2019.

Fast forward, the current Swiss duo of Bencic and Stricker defeated France’s Elixane Lechemia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-1, 7-6 (4), in 77 minutes on Saturday to win their Group D opener.

“I saw her matches when she played with Roger [Federer], so it was not easy for me,” the 22-year-old Stricker said, in an on-court post-match interview. “But we just had a good talk before the match and then we came out hot and it’s super great to win that match and that tie.”

Bencic, 27, added: “So important [to earn the win] and it was a pleasure playing with Dominic. It’s so easy when he’s on serve. I’m just chilling at the net, not touching the ball, so it’s super cool to play with him and we had great energy on the court.” 

Earlier, former World No. 4 Bencic, who gave birth to her daughter Bella in April, defeated 123rd-ranked Chloe Paquet, 6-3, 6-1, in 87 minutes. She converted five of 11 break points and won 57 percent of her return points. It was her win at a tour-level event since her third-round victory at the 2023 US Open more than 15 months ago.

However, in the men’s singles match, the 300th-ranked Stricker fell to World No. 14 Ugo Humbert, 6-3, 7-5, to set up the decider in mixed doubles. “It was the first match of the year, so it was not easy after the preseason. I worked well,” Humbert said during his on-court interview. “I felt much better at the end and I’m super happy about my win today.”

Next, Switzerland will play Italy Sunday evening in Sydney with a chance at gaining a quarterfinal berth.

Fernandez, Auger-Aliassime come up clutch for Canada

After Canada and Croatia split two singles matches to set up a winner-take-all deciding mixed doubles match, Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime teamed to give the Canadians a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Lucija Ciric Bagaric and Ivan Dodig, in which they outpointed their opponents 56-36 and did not face a break point during the one-hour, six-minute skirmish at RAC Arena in Perth.

“Positivity [was key], just having fun, I think we are just having fun on court,” Fernandez said during her on-court interview, with Auger-Aliassime standing by her side. “We stayed aggressive within ourselves and in a lot of the important points, we were able to execute our game plan.”

Added Auger-Aliassime: “It was great, no loss of serve, so that means whatever we were in control of, we were doing well. It’s all about trust, not going for too much, we trust each other.”

Fernandez put Canada ahead 1-0 with her 85-minute 6-4, 6-3 win over World No. 19 Donna Vekic of Croatia, in which she did not face any break points while breaking her opponent twice.

“I’m super happy with the way that I played, the way that I stayed consistent in the tough moments,” the 31st-ranked Fernandez said on-court after her win. “Donna, she’s an incredible player and incredible fighter, and I knew she wasn’t going to give it to me, especially at the start of the second set. I’m just happy that I stayed mentally strong.”

However, Croatia rallied in the next match as 90th-ranked Borna Coric beat No. 29 Auger-Aliassime, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Croatian withstood 13 aces from Auger-Aliassime and overcame five breaks of his serve to win.

Next, Canada will be back on court Sunday night in Perth, against the top-seeded team from the United States, led by World No. 3 Coco Gauff and World No. Taylor Fritz.

Argentina scores first big upset of United Cup

Argentina’s 2-1 upset of Australia in Group F play Saturday evening at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney was a punch in the gut for the host Aussies. It certainly put a dent in the home team’s chances of winning the United Cup for the first time.

No. 100-ranked Nadia Podoroska gave 17th-seed Argentina a 1-0 lead following her 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 97 Olivia Gadecki. However, No. 12-seed Australia roared back in the next match as World No. 9 Alex de Minaur beat No. 39 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-1, 6-4. De Minaur was steady throughout the 76-minute match, hitting eight aces while winning 88 percent of his first-serve points. He broke Etcheverry three times in six opportunities and outpointed the Argentine 58-40.

“I was extremely pleased with my level on being the first match of the new season,” de Minaur said during his team’s post-match news conference. “You never know what to expect. Obviously Tomy, he’s a quality opponent, a very tough opponent. So I was happy in the way I executed today from the very start until the end. 

“Yeah, it’s a very special court and a court that I love playing on. I would say I’m very happy to be able to play a good match today.”

De Minaur is now 5-2 in singles at the United Cup, including a 2023 win over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic last year.

In the mixed doubles decider, Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle and Etcheverry beat Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez, formidable Australian doubles standouts, 6-2, 6-4, to clinch their victory.

“It was a tough match for me in the singles. Alex played incredible tennis today,” Etcheverry said afterward. “I was with the captain in the locker room. I spoke to him and he [asked] if I was fine to play. I know Lourdes since we were children, very young, so it was really special for me to share the court with her and we got the victory, so we are extremely happy of course.”

Carle added: “Super happy. It’s our first time playing together and I trust him. I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it and let’s have fun’. And we did. I think we played very well with a very high energy. That was our goal to do today.” 

Next, Argentina will face Great Britain on Monday in Sydney.

Sakkari, Tsitsipas pull double duty to lift Greece over Spain

Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece pulled double duty and it paid off in a 2-1 victory over Spain in Group C play in Perth Saturday evening.

After the 32nd-ranked Sakkari was stunned by No. 54 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-2, 6-1, in the 72-minute opener, World No. 11 Tsitsipas drew the tie even with his 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over first-day winner Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain, ranked 196th, in which he overcame a break deficit in the final set to win.

Then, Sakkari came up clutch and lifted her game in the mixed doubles match, teamed with Tsitsipas. They defeated Sergio Martos Gornes and Yvonne Cavalle Reimers, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 to eliminate Spain, which had lost to Kazakhstan 2-1 on Friday.

“We came clutch when we had to,” Sakkari expressed during her shared on-court interview with Tsitsipas. “That tie-break was very good from our side. It’s always amazing to play alongside Stefanos and create good moments on the court.”

There were plenty of Greek fans who livened the atmosphere inside RAC Arena and cheered loudly for Sakkari and Tsitsipas.

“There isn’t a single Greek night without some drama,” Tsitsipas admitted. “I’m super grateful that I have a fighter like Maria beside me. She never disappoints. She delivered until the end.”

Later, during their post-match news conference, Sakkari added:  “I think it was an important win moving forward. I’m just very happy we managed to win the tie.”

Greece and Kazakhstan, both 1-0, will play Monday afternoon in Perth for a berth in the quarterfinal knockout round.

Around the United Cup

• World No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States is part of a very talented group of Americans assembled in Perth for this year’s United Cup. The top-ranked U.S. team that is captained by Michael Russell also includes World No. 4 Taylor Fritz. Gauff and Fritz will anchor the American singles lineup when they face Canada Sunday afternoon in Western Australia.

During the team’s pre-tournament news conference at the RAC Arena on Friday, Gauff was asked what made her decide to come play the United Cup after winning consecutive titles in Auckland, New Zealand at the start of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

“For me, I wanted to play a higher level of competition and also a team competition. I had a lot of fun with the Olympics. Basically, [there’s] a similar crew here today. Yeah, just had a lot of fun. The season’s already so much by ourselves that it’s nice to mix it up,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully having a good couple weeks here in Perth and hopefully in Sydney, as well.”

• Group B gets underway in Sydney Sunday afternoon as the Czech Republic faces Norway, followed by Italy’s debut in Group D against Switzerland (1-0). Meanwhile, defending champion Germany, in back of World No. 2 Alexander Zverev begins its title defense against Brazil (0-1) in Perth, followed by the North American showdown between top-seeded United States against Canada (1-0).

Saturday’s United Cup results

Sunday’s United Cup order of play 

By the numbers

• World No. 14 Ugo Humbert of France is making his United Cup debut this year and is the highest-ranked left-handed on the PIF ATP Rankings. With his win over Dominic Stricker of Switzerland Saturday, Humbert is 7-1 versus fellow lefties on hard courts since the start of the 2023 season.

• World No. 19 Donna Vekic of Croatia has reached at least one singles final in each of the last four seasons (since 2021), including a runner-up finish at Bad Homburg and a silver medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024, and a title run at Monterrey in 2023. She’s 5-1 at the United Cup after losing for the first time on Saturday, against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 6-3.

“Quotable …”

• “I really love coming here to Australia. Sydney has been great to me. I’ve been playing some good matches and some nice battles. And, the city of course and the Australian people I really, really enjoy the atmosphere that is here.

“Everyone’s coming after a short break, so it’s beginning of a new season. So, everyone is kind of eager to start playing some tennis.”

– World No. 16 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, during his team’s pre-tournament news conference on Friday, on starting the new season playing in a team event in Australia.

• “I’m trying just to focus on trying to keep the level that I kept all the last year. I’m trying to still improve something on my game. I have to improve still many things and trying to be focused on the work and trying to be focused on any match that I will play.

“I’m not trying to focus on the ranking that I can have at the end of next year, you know. Just trying to live in the present, trying to enjoy, and trying to keep this level as long as possible.”

– World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, during her team’s pre-tournament news conference on Saturday on the pressure of being one of the top-ranked women in the world.

 

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