Iga Swiatek led Poland to a 2-1 victory in its United Cup opening match on Monday in Sydney, Australia, eliminating Norway from the mixed-team event.
Casper Ruud got the 15th-seeded Norwegians off to a good start against Poland, the second seed, with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Hubert Hurkacz. Swiatek, in a must-win contest, cruised past Malene Helgo 6-1, 6-0 in 62 minutes.
In the decisive mixed-doubles match in Group B, Swiatek teamed with Jan Zielinski to defeat Ulrikke Eikeri and Ruud 6-3, 0-6, 10-8.
Germany, the defending champion, clinched a quarterfinals berth from Group E behind Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund. The pair defeated the Chinese tandem of Zhizhen Zhang and Shuai Zhang 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the rubber match after Zverev topped Zhizhen Zhang in three sets in singles and China’s Xinyu Gao defeated Siegemund in another three-set contest.
Also Monday, Alexander Shevchenko upset Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6 (0) and Elena Rybakina topped Maria Sakkari in straight sets to send ninth-seeded Kazakhstan to the quarterfinals out of Group C. Greece, the third seed, was eliminated in play in Perth.
And in Group F action, back in Sydney, Katie Boulter won her singles and mixed-doubles contest to give sixth-seeded Great Britain a victory over Argentina, the 17th seed.
Boulter defeated Nadia Podoroska 6-2, 6-3, then teamed with Charles Broom to beat the Argentine team of Maria Lourdes Carle and Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (4), 7-5. Etcheverry forced the mixed-doubles decider with his 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Billy Harris.
The top two teams from each group move to the quarterfinals.
Brisbane International
Czech Jiri Lehecka converted five of six break chances to upset No. 3 seed Holger Rune of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in opening-round action in Australia.
The No. 2 seed, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, advanced, using nine aces to defeat Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.
In other action, Benjamin Bonzi of France ousted the sixth seed, Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, in a marathon 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 6-4 match. Eighth-seeded Jordan Thompson of Chile needed three sets to defeat Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
Also moving on were Nicolas Jarry of Chile, Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and Alex Michelsen.
Hong Kong Open
A pair of seeded players fell in first-round action, with No. 6 Brandon Nakashima and No. 8 Luciano Darderi of Italy ousted in straight sets.
Nakashima was beaten by Italian Lorenzo Sonego, and Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic took care of Darderi.
Italy’s Fabian Marozsan and Cameron Norrie of Great Britain also moved on to the Round of 16.
–Field Level Media
