Felix Auger-Aliassime and 19-year-old Victoria Mboko gave Canada a 3-0 sweep of China on Sunday at the United Cup in Australia.
In the opener, played in Sydney, Mboko rebounded from an opening-set loss to defeat Lin Zhu 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, and Auger-Aliassime followed by dropping Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-4. It was the first season-opening match won by Auger-Aliassime since 2021.
The Canadian duo then teamed to defeat Xiaodi You and Rigele Te 6-1, 6-3 in the mixed-doubles portion of the round-robin event in Group B.
Eva Lys made her United Cup debut for Germany, which swept the Netherlands in Group F in Sydney. She beat Suzan Lamens 6-2, 6-2, and Alexander Zverev defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-0. Zverev and Laura Siegemund beat Griekspoor and Demi Schuurs 6-3, 6-2 in mixed doubles for the 3-0 win.
In Group E action in Perth, Japan fell to 0-2. Naomi Osaka posted the lone win — 7-6 (4), 6-1 over Great Britain’s Katie Swan, a sub for Emma Raducanu, who pulled out with a foot injury. Brit Billy Harris topped Shintaro Mochizuki 7-6 (4), 6-4, and teammates Neal Skupski and Olivia Nicholls bested Yasutaka Uchiyama and Nao Hibino in mixed doubles to give Great Britain a 2-1 win.
Also in Perth, Switzerland and Italy stand tied in their Group C match, pending the outcome of their mixed-doubles contest. Belinda Bencic got the Swiss team off to a lead with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Jasmine Paolini, but veteran Stan Wawrinka was defeated by Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4) in a marathon match.
The mixed-doubles match will pit Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori against Bencic and Jakub Paul.
Action continues Monday with Germany vs. Poland (Group F in Sydney), Czechia vs. Norway (Group D in Sydney), Greece vs. Great Britain (Group E in Perth) and the United States vs. Spain (Group A in Perth).
Brisbane International
Americans Frances Tiafoe and Learner Tien, the No. 8 seed, opened the Australian Open tuneup in Brisbane with easy victories.
Tiafoe defeated Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 6-2, helped by winning 82% of points on both his first and second serves. He also capitalized on four of six break opportunities.
Tien ousted Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina 7-6 (4), 6-3, scoring on 81% of his first serves.
On the women’s side, Czech Marie Bouzkova used six aces and five breaks to defeat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-4, 6-3.
Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, however, fought off 10 aces from her opponent and withstood her own six double faults to defeat another Romanian, Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Other winners were Anastasia Potapova of Austria, Sorana Cirstea of Romania, Australian Ajla Tomljanovic and American McCartney Kessler.
–Field Level Media
