Spain’s Alejandro Davidovic Fokina defeated Hubert Hurkas in the men’s singles at Perth’s RAC Arena on New Year’s Day, as world number one Iga Swiatek saved Poland’s hopes at the United Cup in Perth. Australia turned the tables in the night session. Defending champions USA also advanced to the quarterfinals.
This means everything. It was truly a dream come true. It was a dream come true to play in front of our home crowd, play alongside Matty from Perth, win at home and get to the quarter-finals. storm hunter
Swiatek displayed a dominant form, dismissing Sara Sorribes Tormo with only three losses, before teaming up with Furkasz in the decisive mixed doubles to defeat the Spaniard in doubles and advance Poland to the United Cup quarter-finals. .
In Group A’s winner-take-all mixed doubles, Światek and Furkas won 78 percent of the first serve points (19/24), ensuring their top-seeded spot in the last eight with a perfect performance without any competition. . Break point after 43 minutes.
Poland reached the semi-finals of the 18-nation mixed team competition last season and became the first team to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.
“They performed really well today and I was very proud of them,” said Poland captain Tomasz Wiktorowski. “Hubie was a tough opponent in the first match. Then he tried mixed doubles. He had a great performance in mixed doubles.
“I’m also very proud of Iga because we had a tough offseason right after that.” [us]. It’s always nice to see during official games right after the offseason that what we’ve been doing is working at the moment. ”
Alejandro Davidovic Fokina defeated Poland’s world No. 9 Hubert Hurkasz on the fourth day of the United Cup in Perth, giving Spain a 1-0 win over Poland.
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Spain won the men’s singles and started the day on top, with Davidovic Fokina scoring his country’s first point with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset of Furkas.
Despite taking the lead in the first set, the ATP No. 9 lost the plot in the next two sets, suffering a defeat at the hands of Davidovich Fokina, who was impressive at the second serve point, and with a second service point difference of 74. %, won by a 55% margin. He won on Harkas’ second serve and won after 2 hours and 3 minutes.
Davidovic Fokina, who opened the season with a straight-sets win over Thiago Sabos Wilde, leads Furkas with 4 wins and 2 losses in head-to-head competition.
The 24-year-old Spaniard also improved his record against players in the top 10 of the ATP rankings to 6-24.
Poland’s comeback began with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sorribes Tormo in 1 hour and 28 minutes.
The four-time Grand Slam champion easily defeated Spain’s top woman and world No. 48 Sorribes Tormo, improving to 3-0 in head-to-head matches without losing a set.
“It was a very physical match, even though it was 6-2, 6-1,” Swiatek told reporters. “It was much harder than it looked.”
On Monday, Swiatek was forced to save four break points in her first three service games, but it turned out to be the only break point she faced in a match in which she did not lose a service game.
The 22-year-old Polish’s power game clicked during a nice break at 4-2, punctuated by a return winner, and two games later Swiatek hit a backhand winner on the second set point to gather a one-set lead. Ta.
Swiatek had four break points in the second set, trailing 1-0, but then immediately made an aggressive break to take full control at 3-1, and from there he stormed home and took two wins. achieved 13 consecutive wins. So far, Perth has won back-to-back titles at the Beijing Games and WTA Finals, ending the 2023 season.
“I’m really happy with my level and concentration,” Swiatek said. “I don’t feel rusty. I don’t feel like I need to get into a rhythm. Basically after the U.S. Open, I’m playing free, the same way I felt in Beijing. That place. I’m happy just to be here.”
Poland’s Iga Swiatek tied the score against Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo in an intimidating manner and sent the match to the final.
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After defeating Sorribes Tormo to level the score, Światek combined with Furkasz to defeat Sorribes Tormo & Davidovic Fokina 6-0 in a decisive mixed rubber, securing Poland the top spot in Group A. .
After the match, Swiatek joked about handing out double bagels to the Spaniards with the help of fellow “chef” Furkas, referring to the famous “Iga Bakery” phenomenon.
“So I think we just brought the materials,” Harkash said.
The banter between Swiatek and Hurkasz continued in the post-match press conference, when Swiatek and Hurkasz were asked whether the Polish pair’s dinner promise was the motive behind the quick end to the mixed doubles match.
“For us, it’s lunch,” Swiatek replied with a laugh.
Harkas elaborated on the loss to Davidovic Fokina: “Alejandro, he’s playing really well. I hope he continues to play well. Maybe I’ll even win a match with him in singles.”
Swiatek added with a laugh: “I’m trying to teach Hubie that every set doesn’t need a tiebreak!”
Australia’s Alex de Minaur celebrates Australia’s first win with a win over America’s Taylor Fritz in the men’s singles at the United Cup at the RAC Arenato on Monday night.
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In the evening’s match, Australia will take on defending Group C champions USA, a must-win match to have a chance of progressing to one of the two quarter-finals in Perth after losing in the opening game. It became. England.
Alex de Minaur defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2, giving his country a 1-0 lead over the United States and raising hopes for the United States, who will advance to the final eight if they defeat Great Britain and beat Australia. 2-1 on Sunday.
“Today was a new year and a new me,” De Minaur said. “I’m very happy because I was in a great headspace and was able to play the tennis that I wanted to play. Taylor has explosive firepower, so you can’t let him dictate.
“My mindset was to get him the ball from the first pitch and take the little chances and score. It doesn’t always work out, but today it worked out.”
Playing his eighth career match, de Minaur played aggressive, front-foot tennis against world No. 10 Fritz in front of raucous Australian fans inside the RAC Arena.
He stole the ball from both wings early on, forcing the Americans to pounce and sealing the win after 1 hour and 34 minutes. The 24-year-old currently leads Fritz 5-3 in career meetings.
Jessica Pegula was made to work by Ajla Tomljanovic, but the world No. 5 overcame the Australian to win 7-6 (6) 6-3 and tie the match at 1-1. They caught up and brought it to a decisive mixed doubles match.
Pegula suffered a three-set loss to Katie Boulter in the season opener, but against Tomljanovic, she came back from a narrow deficit in each set to look for her first win of the season.
Pegula was unable to hold onto an early break lead in the first set, forcing Tomljanovic to force a set point when he was down 5-4 on serve.
The American quickly displayed her trademark fighting ability, erasing three set points with a brave serve-to-keep.
There was little difference between the two in the tiebreak, but Pegula took a 6-5 lead and earned the first set point.
Tomljanovic, who was sidelined for much of the 2023 season due to injury, continued to defend Pegula in extra sets, saving two set points and finally relenting after 63 minutes.
The Australian did not let his disappointment set in, defeating Pegula early in the second set and building a 3-1 lead before the American put him away again.
Pegula struggled to find his trademark consistency throughout the match, but he found his best ball strikes in critical moments, clawing his way back from the breakdown and winning four games in a row, finishing with a physical 1:52 minute break. Finished the match.
Matt Ebden and Storm Hunter scored a decisive victory over America’s Jessica Pegula and Rajeev Ram in the mixed doubles, propelling Team Australia into the quarter-finals.
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Hopes are now on the line and the match goes into a winner-take-all mixed doubles match, with Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter defeating Jessica Pegula and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-1, giving their country a place in Group C. They secured a place in the lead. A mixed team event from 18 countries.
“This means everything,” Hunter said. “It was a dream come true. Playing in front of our home crowd and playing alongside Matty who is a Perth local, it was a dream come true to win at home and get to the quarter-finals.”
Hunter and Ebden appeared on court inside the packed RAC Arena, needing wins in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals.
After dominating the first set, she rallied from a breakdown in the second set and won after 1 hour and 2 minutes.
“It’s very nice, very special,” Ebden said. “You can hardly compare it to something like the Davis Cup, it’s like a team competition playing for Australia, especially here at home as the West Aussies.
“For me, it’s very exciting and much higher. Some of the great memories can’t be compared to anything. It’s there on its own.”
After their win, Hunter and Ebden both raised their hands in the air to the cheers of the raucous crowd, celebrating the fact that they had taken Australia into the last eight as Group E winners.