Breaking down the City Finals matchups
The United Cup kicked off six days ago in three Australian cities, with 18 nations competing in six groups. Now, it has been reduced to just six. Wednesday’s City Finals in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane will feature five matches (two men’s and women’s singles and one mixed doubles) over two sessions.
Four of the top five seeds made the cut and were joined by Great Britain and Croatia. The team matches are:
- United States vs Great Britain in Sydney
- Italy vs Poland in Brisbane
- Greece vs. Croatia in Perth
The three winning nations and the losing team with the best record will advance to Friday’s semi-finals in Sydney.
Here’s a breakdown of each:
Sydney, Ken Rosewall Arena
USA (2-0) vs. Great Britain (2-0)
Five individual players for these two teams bring perfect 2-0 records in the new season in the Sydney City Final.
Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe went 6-0 to help the United States defeat the Czech Republic and Germany, while Cameron Norrie and Katie Swan combined for four wins, playing some sensational tennis as they dispatched Australia and Spain. .
“It’s great to start the year with some wins for sure,” said Fritz. “I think the confidence aspect of tennis is very important. Especially going to the Australian Open, coming off the off-season.”
Fritz, ranked No. 9 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, meets Norrie, who is only five spots behind. Fritz won his last match last September in the Laver Cup in a 10-8 tiebreaker.
Norrie, meanwhile, is coming off the best win of his career, defeating Rafael Nadal in three sets.
“Yeah,” Norrie said, “especially in qualifying and beating a guy like Rafa for the competitor that he is. “I know it’s his first game of the year, but it was a sick win. It absolutely cut me off the last five or four times I’ve played with it. It’s good to have once now.
The individual players from the United States have a collective record of 11-7 against their British opponents. On paper, however, the Americans have a huge advantage on the women’s side, with Jessica Pegula ranked No. 3 and Keys ranked 11th, compared to Nos. 98 and 145 for Harriet Dart and Katie Swan.
Wednesday’s matchups:
Madison Keys (USA) vs. Katie Swan (GBR), 12:30 p.m.
Head to head: Keys, 1-0
Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Cameron Norrie (GBR), to watch
Head to head: Fritz, 6-5
Jessica Pegula (USA) vs. Harriet Dart (GBR), 5:30 p.m.
Head to head: Pégula, 1-0
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs. Daniel Evans (GBR), to watch
Head to head: Tiafoe, 3-2
Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Harriet Dart and Jonny O’Mara (GBR), below
Brisbane, Pat Rafter Arena
Italy (2-0) vs Poland (2-0)
Not long after Hubert Hurkacz and Magda Linette scored singles victories against Stan Wawrinka and Jil Teichmann of Switzerland to send Poland to the city final, Polish captain Agnieszka Radwanska was already looking to the future.
“I’m really looking forward to Hubi’s game against Berrettini,” he told reporters. “I think it will be the best of the matches tomorrow, I think. We’ll see after all the matches, but I think that’s the one I’m really looking forward to.” stop and we’ll see.
Earlier, Matteo Berrettini defeated No. 3 Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 en route to Norway’s 5-0 defeat. On Wednesday he meets Hurkacz in a rematch of their 2021 Wimbledon semifinal, won by the Italian in four sets.
There is also another Grand Slam rematch on the women’s side. World number 1 Iga Swiatek takes on Martina Trevisan. Her 2020 quarterfinal at Roland Garros was a big moment on the road to Swiatek’s first major singles title.
“I think in this format you can expect almost anything,” Radwanska said. “That’s the way sport is, so anything can happen, especially when you have four singles matches and then the mixed doubles. So it’s always exciting until the end.”
Wednesday’s matchups:
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) vs. Daniel Michalski (POL), 12:30
Head to head: 0-0.
Martina Trevisán (ITA) vs. Iga Swiatek (POL), to follow
Head to head: Swiatek, 1-0
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) vs. Hubert Hurkacz (POL), 17:30
Head to head: 1-1
Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) vs. Magda Linette (POL), to follow
Head to head: 0-0
Camila Rosatello and Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) vs. Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz (POL), to follow
Perth, RAC Arena
Greece (2-0) vs. Croatia (2-0)
Thanks to two victories by Maria Sakkari, in singles and mixed doubles with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece was the first team to reach this city final.
Croatia, however, found itself embroiled in a nasty fight with France on Tuesday night. Down 2-0, Caroline Garcia cut the deficit and Adrian Mannarino nearly forced a mixed doubles decider. Serving for the third set match against Borna Gojo, Mannarino faltered and suddenly found himself in a tiebreaker. Gojo eventually converted his sixth match point as Croatia qualified.
tsitsipas He will face Borna Coric, who has beaten him three times in a row, including twice last year, in Cincinnati and Vienna.
Sakkari and Petra Martic have met just once, eight years ago in US Open qualifying, when Sakkari qualified for the first major main draw of her career.
Wednesday’s matchups:
Despina Papamichail (GRE) vs. Despina Papamichail (GRE) Donna Vekic (CRO), 12:30 pm
Head to head: 0-0
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Borna Coric (CRO), to follow
Head to head: Coric, 3-1
Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs. Petra Martic (CRO), 5:30 p.m.
Head to head: Sakkari, 1-0
Michael Pervolarakis (GRE) vs. Michael Pervolarakis (GRE) Borna Gojo (CRO), to watch
Head to head: 0-0
Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Donna Vekic and Borna Coric (CRO), to follow