United Cup: Greece, Argentina Power Up in Perth

The first day of the 2026 tennis season started with fine performances from a few big names in Perth, as the 2026 United Cup kicked off with wins from Greece, powered by Stefanos Tsitisipas and Maria Sakkari against Japan, and Argentina, who got top-notch tennis from Sebastian Baez and Solana Sierra to defeat Spain.

Tsitsipas, hoping to maintain a clean bill of health in 2026 after suffering a back issue that completely derailed his 2025 season, took out Shintaro Mochizuki, 6-3, 6-4.

“I’m pleased with the way I actually finished the match because I really started finding a lot of rhythm into my game in later stages of the match,” the 27-year-old former world No.3 said.

Tsitsipas dropped out of the Top 20 for the first time since 2018 last season, and enters the year ranked 36th.

“I honestly believe my first game of the match was actually pretty awful from my side. I felt like I was completely useless. But once I understood how to play, once I got a better visual of the corners that I want to target on the court, playing a little bit with more clarity, not rushing into decisions and not rushing into big shots, I felt like my game started penetrating more, started hurting more.”

Sakkari took out four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-2.

The Greek, also a former world No.3, said her backhand down the line made the difference.

“It was all about who was going to take the back hand line, let’s be honest. It was all about who was going to get that good cross-court ball in order to get down the line,” Sakkari said.

Tsitsipas and Sakkari also won the mixed, making it a clean sweep for Greece – six sets played, six sets won.

Baez, Sierra Lead Argentina Past Spain

Sebastian Baez got the best of Jaume Munar in the first match of Friday’s action in Perth, 6-4, 6-4. The world No.45 conquered Munar with a spirited effort, claiming the high-quality victory with some stellar shotmaking.

Solana Sierra followed with a minor upset of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. The 21-year-old dropped the middle set after leading 5-2, but rallied to hand the Spaniard a bagel in the decider, winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.

Argentina completed the sweep with a straight-sets victory in mixed.