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United Cup 2024/25: Day 1 Results & Highlights

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Day 1 of the United Cup began on December 27th, marking the third consecutive year that the tournament has been part of the Australian summer of tennis calendar. Many of the world’s best players will be seen in action over the next few weeks. This includes the likes of Americans Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz as well as women’s World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

The event will be played across multiple Australian cities over the course of 11 days which will lead up to the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open. The format of the tournament is a mixed-gender team event, which is a first for a major tennis competition.

18 countries in total qualified for the tournament, which have been divided into 6 groups of three:

Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DGroup EGroup F
USAPolandKazakhstanItalyChinaGreat Britain
CanadaCzech RepSpainFranceBrazil Australia
CroatiaNorwayGreeceSwitzerlandGermanyArgentina

The first week is scheduled for international team competition in a group phase that will consist of a round robin format. One group in each city plays all its matches in the morning sessions while the other will play in the evening sessions.

Let’s take a look at what went down on Day 1 of the tournament and how that will affect things going forward.

Gao & Zhang Shines As China Beats Brazil 3-0 

Gao Xinyu came back from one set down do defeat Beatriz Haddad Maia 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to give China a 1-0 lead over Brazil in the opening series in Group E. Zhang Zhizhen then followed up the win with an almost flawless performance, crushing Thiago Monteiro  6-3, 6-0 to give China the win. The final mixed doubles match also went in favor of China to complete the 3-0 sweep.

Gao survived her three-hour, 22-minute epic showdown after battling through physical adversity. She required a medical time-out in the second set but was able to resume play with her left thigh heavily strapped. Despite looking in visible discomfort at times, the 27-year old battled hard and eventually came out on top. Her opponent, Haddad Maia, also had issues with cramps when serving up 4-3 in the third set. She had to resort to underarm serves at one point which led to her being broken twice. 

In contrast, Zhang, the No. 45 in the ATP Rankings breezed past his Brazilian opponent in just 54 minutes. He was dominant on his serve, barely giving Monteiro any chance to get into the match.

Next up for China will be a tougher opponent in Germany, who they will be playing on the 29th of December. Brazil will face the Germans a day before, looking to get on the board.

Kazakhstan Stun Spain in 2-1 Series Win

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina spearheaded Kazakhstan to a massive opening-day win over Spain at the United Cup in Perth on Friday.

The first match of the series went heavily in favor of Spain, as Alexander Shevchenko couldn’t stand up to Pablo Carreño Busta, who won straight sets 6-2 6-1. 

Luckily for Kazakhstan they had an ace up their sleeve in Rybakina. First, she pulled her country back onto level terms with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the second match of the day. She then went on to team up with Shevchenko to clinch the deciding mixed doubles match over Pablo Carreno Busta and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 10-7.

 

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