Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova passed international quantity 3 Jessica Pegula her first defeat of the brand new season, however the United States finished a complete 4-1 victory of their United Cup combined staff event in Sydney on Friday.
Down 2-0 after the hole day’s motion, the Czechs fixed a spirited comeback as Kvitova beat Pegula 7-6(6) 6-4 however Tomas Machac may just now not construct at the win as he retired because of an ankle damage with Frances Tiafoe main 6-3 2-4.
Pegula shook off the disgruntlement of her singles loss and teamed up with Taylor Fritz to get previous Marie Bouzkova and Jiri Lehecka 2-6 6-3 10-7. The Americans, who’re Group C toppers, subsequent face Germany beginning Monday.
“I feel like on our team there’s a lot of different options and different pairings and the mixed could be important down the line,” Fritz mentioned. “We want to figure out what will be our best team or at least get the rust off.
“The complete factor will also be determined via the combined doubles so we need to know who we need to move with in a large fit.”
Greece were also comfortable victors over Bulgaria as Maria Sakkari set the tone for the 4-1 win by getting past Viktoriya Tomova 6-3 6-2 in Group A.
“I used to be just a little worried at first,” Sakkari said. “Especially being 2-0 up within the tie, I knew my fit was once the most important to successful. She was once forged to start with, however I discovered my recreation, discovered my serve and the whole lot were given higher.
“The United Cup format is unusual but it’s nice. We get to spend time together, watching each other, so we can learn a lot of things… From the outside you see things differently.”
Dimitar Kuzmanov pulled one again for Bulgaria via outclassing Michail Pervolarakis 6-1 6-1 however Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas carried an excessive amount of energy for Gergana Topalova and Adrian Andreev and prevailed 6-4 6-4.
Australia suffered a blow previous as Ajla Tomljanovic pulled out of her fit in opposition to Harriet Dart because of a left knee damage and her alternative Maddison Inglis fell 6-4 6-4 as Britain took an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Matteo Berrettini downed Thiago Monteiro 6-4 7-6(7) as Italy sealed a 3-2 Group E win over Brazil whilst Stan Wawrinka helped Switzerland to a 3-0 lead over Kazakhstan in Group B via beating Alexander Bublik 6-3 7 -6(3).
