SYDNEY — The U.S. beat the Czech Republic 3-1 at the mixed teams United Cup when American Frances Tiafoe‘s opponent Tomas Machac retired due to a right ankle injury in the second set of their singles match Friday.
Tiafoe won the first set 6-3 at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney but trailed 4-2 in the second to his Czech opponent when the match ended due to Machac’s injury.
The Americans went into the second day of the five-match encounter leading 2-0 after opening singles wins on Thursday by Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys.
But two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova saved seven set points to beat world No. 3 Jessica Pegula 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the first match Friday to keep the Czechs in with a chance of victory.
‘We keep fighting,” Kvitova said. “I think USA is such a great team with great players in the team. We are not really favorites here, but we are fighting every match, every point. That’s our team spirit.”
From 5-1 down in the tiebreak, Kvitova went on to save three set points before earning her eighth set point at 7-6 and finally converting to seal the set. After her first-set escape, Kvitova broke Pegula twice to build a quick 3-0 lead.
In other play Friday, Matteo Berrettini made a good start to his season to put Italy in position to close out its tie against Brazil at Brisbane.
The Italian player beat Brazilian No. 1 Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 7-6 (7) to give his country a 2-1 lead. Lucia Bronzetti will try to clinch the Group E encounter in the No. 2 women’s singles match when she faced Laura Pigossi.
“Pretty happy I have to say. It’s been a long time since I’ve played my last singles match, so I didn’t know what to expect. I think the level was pretty high,” Berrettini said. “I’m happy for my performance, but obviously when you play in these kind of competitions the most important thing is to get the win and bring a point for the team and that’s why I’m even happier.”
Greece lived up to its top billing by taking a 2-0 lead over Bulgaria in Perth, Western Australia, on Thursday. Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) and Despina Papamichail come from a set and a break down to defeat Isabella Shinikova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Two singles matches — one men’s and one women’s — are played over each of two days, with a mixed doubles to conclude the five-match encounter on the second day.
The inaugural United Cup has teams from 18 countries competing in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney through to Jan. 4. The three city champions and the next-best…
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