Tennis News

Tsitsipas moves Greece closer to United Cup QFs

Stefanos Tsitsipas moved Greece to within one win of reaching the United Cup quarter-finals on Monday in Perth. The 27-year-old defeated Great Britain’s Billy Harris 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

In a hard-fought battle, Tsitsipas rallied after a slow start to give Greece a 1-0 lead. The 27-year-old struggled to find his range on his backhand throughout the two-hour, 15-minute clash, but inflicted enough damage on his forehand and held his nerve in the third-set tie-break to triumph.

“I got fed up losing matches like that [last year],” Tsitsipas said. “I lost one in September and I just tried everything in my power to not have the same thing happen again. I am grateful to overcome that. It had a crazy energy out here.

“I would like to congratulate Billy. He put up an incredible performance. I haven’t played such a high quality match in such a long time. He did great, pushing me to my limits. I think matches like that are great for the sport.”

Tsitsipas helped Greece beat Japan in its opening United Cup tie with a win against Shintaro Mochizuki and now holds an 8-2 singles record at the mixed-teams event. It is the first time the No. 36 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has earned consecutive wins since Barcelona last April, when he reached the quarter-finals.

Maria Sakkari will face Emma Raducanu in the second match of the Group E tie. If Sakkari triumphs, Greece will qualify for the quarter-finals as group winners.

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Jones 'didn't make it easy' but gets biggest win

Britain’s Francesca Jones opens her 2026 season with the biggest win of her career, beating world number 15 Emma Navarro in Auckland.

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Hurkacz stuns Zverev at United Cup for first win in seven months

Hubert Hurkacz has left no doubt — the Polish star is back.

After missing nearly seven months due to a right knee injury for which he underwent arthroscopic surgery on 2 July, Hurkacz made a statement return to action at the United Cup Monday evening. The 28-year-old stunned World No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 to give Team Poland a 1-0 lead against Team Germany in Sydney.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been competing. Seven months I’ve been going through difficult times with the team and it was very challenging,” Hurkacz said. “They were all supporting me, they were all behind me. We went through definitely a long period of time not competing and not knowing when we [would] be able to be back on court again. I was just trying to cherish and enjoy every moment here on the court today.”

Hurkacz had not played a match since June in ’s-Hertogenbosch, leading to a fall to No. 83 in the PIF ATP Rankings. But the former World No. 6 played well above his ranking inside Ken Rosewall Arena, facing just one break point in his one-hour, 23-minute victory.

The two-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor held up well under pressure against Zverev, beautifully redirecting a backhand up the line to secure the critical break at 3-3 in the second set. Hurkacz faced just one break point in the match according to Infosys ATP Stats, hitting 21 aces to allow his opponent few opportunities to work his way into points.

“I was serving quite well. I was finding nice spots, so that’s definitely a nice feeling to really have good rhythm on the serve,” Hurkacz said. “Just so pleased with the performance and just also so much fun to see the fans again.”

Zverev walked on court with a 3-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against Hurkacz, but was unable to consistently make Hurkacz uncomfortable the way he did Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor on Sunday.

Iga Swiatek will try to close out the tie for Poland when she takes the court against Eva Lys. The German earned a straightforward victory against Suzan Lamens of The Netherlands.

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Why Mensik made Krejcikova shout at the television

When Jakub Mensik was 16, he reached the 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles final. The Czech pushed his match against Bruno Kuzuhara deep into a third set, but ultimately suffered full-body cramp in the final game of the match, losing a heartbreaker. Watching at the time was Barbora Krejcikova, now a two-time major singles champion and Mensik’s United Cup teammate.

“I was definitely following him since he was cramping in Australia a couple of years ago,” Krejcikova told ATPTour.com, cracking a laugh. “I was following him since then, and I’m really happy that he’s making such progress and that he’s doing great, and he’s very talented.”

Nearly four years later, Krejcikova and Mensik are trying to claim the United Cup trophy for their country for the first time. The Czechs made a perfect start Monday, easing past Norway 3-0.

After Krejcikova earned her opening victory, she was watching a television feed of Mensik’s match. The 20-year-old battled past Casper Ruud in two tight sets.

“We were sitting in our little office in there. We were shouting at the TV and really pumping him up,” Krejcikova said. “I’m really happy that he won.”

Krejcikova is a big tennis fan who enjoys watching many matches. She was happy to get a close look at Mensik, the 2025 Miami ATP Masters 1000 champion.

“What I definitely love about his tennis is the serve,” Krejcikova said. “Overall today I was able to watch him a little bit more, because I mean, the Tours are separate, and we don’t really have the opportunities to spend as much time together.

“Today was amazing. I think he was playing unbelievable, and he was serving really well during the important points. He was passing so many times. It was unbelievable.”

Mensik hit 16 aces against Ruud according to Infosys ATP Stats, helping him take a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against the Norwegian.

“I think just the way how he hits it, how compact his serve is,” Krejcikova said. “I feel like he’s tossing the ball every single time the same way, so that’s something unique. It’s something that is very tough for me, so actually, I would love to have his serve.”

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Bouzas Maneiro stuns Gauff to give Spain 1-0 lead over USA

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro is coming off a breakout 2025 season in which she set a career-high ranking of No. 40, reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon and made her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Montreal.

On Monday at the United Cup, the Spaniard carried that momentum into 2026, upsetting World No. 4 Coco Gauff in dominant fashion, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-0 at RAC Arena. The loss is Gauff’s first at the United Cup in 10 matches across singles and doubles; she entered the day 6-0 in singles and 9-0 overall.

The win marks Bouzas Maneiro’s first career Top-5 victory and gives Spain a 1-0 lead over the United States ahead of the men’s singles match between Taylor Fritz and Jaume Munar.

“I know Coco and she’s a fighter,” Bouzas Maneiro said after the match. “She’s there all the time in the match, so I knew that I had to be there, and even if I’m 4-1 up, I have to be there. And yeah, she won the second set and I went to the bathroom and I was trying to focus just to take it point by point.

“And that was my mentality in the third set. To be [there] with power every point because even if you are [up] 3-0 or 4-0, you have to be ready.”

Bouzas Maneiro set the tone immediately, breaking Gauff in the opening game en route to a 5-0 lead. She went on to break the American in all four of her service games in the first set and nine times overall.

Her forehand — which produced 11 winners in the match — fueled her early surge, but her return game, paired with Gauff’s serving struggles, defined the rest of the match. It was a stark contrast to Gauff’s dominant performance earlier in the week against Argentina’s Solana Sierra.

Gauff landed just 60% of her first serves and won just under 60% of those points. She was further undone by 14 double faults and 54 unforced errors. Bouzas Maneiro could only match Gauff’s first-serve numbers but managed her unforced errors more effectively (41) and converted 9 of 12 break points.

Still, Gauff refused to go quietly despite her struggles. She rallied from 4-1 down to take the second set in a tiebreak and appeared poised for a remarkable comeback. But Bouzas Maneiro broke to open the decider and never looked back, racing to a 4-0 lead after saving two break points in a five-deuce game.

After 2 hours and 12 minutes, Bouzas Maneiro closed out the match with a third-set bagel, earning a bit of redemption after being blanked in a deciding set by Sierra earlier in the week, and secured the biggest win of her career.

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Krejcikova makes winning United Cup debut, Czechia takes early lead in Sydney

Two-time major singles champion Barbora Krejcikova scored a winning United Cup debut on Monday in a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Norway’s Malene Helgo to give Czechia an early 1-0 lead in Group D Sydney action.

The former World No. 2 comes into the 2026 WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz season ranked No. 65 in the PIF WTA Rankings after another bout with injury to close 2025. She reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in September, a watershed moment in her season that only began in May after dealing with a recurring back injury.

Putting Team Czechia on the scoreboard 📋 pic.twitter.com/EihT4A8bFV

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026

Krejcikova then unfortunately dealt with physical problems again, suffering a knee injury against McCartney Kessler in the third round of the China Open. She retired from that match, later revealing her injury was worse than previously thought. Krejcikova also retired from her first match at the WTA 125 in Limoges in December.

Krejcikova’s season-opening match against World No. 532 Helgo proved to be an ideal return.

“I didn’t play for a long period, and the injury that I had was really tough and very unfortunate,” Krejcikova said. “I’m really happy that I’m here, that I can play, that I can enjoy it, that I can compete, and I’m really happy that I can finally finish a match.”

Helgo, 26, has punched above her weight in the United Cup in the past. She pushed both Caroline Garcia and Donna Vekic to three sets in 2024 and took advantage of a slow start by Krejcikova to open up an early 3-1 lead.

But then, Krejcikova, who played the one-hour, 38-minute match with supportive wrapping on her left knee, erased a break point opportunity in a five-deuce fifth game and righted the ship by winning eight of the next nine games.

“The knee is better. It took some time, but it’s improving every day and I’m very happy with that,” Krejcikova said.

In men’s singles, World No. 19 Jakub Mensik, also a first-time United Cup participant, will look to clinch victory for Czechia against Casper Ruud.

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Djokovic cuts ties with player union he co-founded

Novak Djokovic says he has ended his involvement with the Professional Tennis Players Association that he co-founded, expressing concerns over “transparency and governance”.

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