Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari earned some confidence-lifting victories as they powered Greece to a 2-1 victory over Great Britain, securing a spot in the United Cup quarter-finals in the process.
The two Greek tennis stars each scored three-set triumphs in their singles bouts in Perth, with Tsitsipas defeating Billy Harris and Sakkari overcoming Emma Raducanu.
Sakkari’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win marked her first success over the former US Open champion, having lost in each of their previous four meetings.
“Emma, I’ve had four tough losses against her so to get that first win against her, against a great opponent, it means a lot, especially delivering for Team Greece,” Sakkari said in the on-court interview right after her match.
Tsitsipas came from behind to win 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 in the match earlier, coming out on top in a hard-fought battle to mark back-to-back singles wins for the first time since the tournament in Barcelona last April.
“I got fed up losing matches like that (last year),” Tsitsipas said on-court, adding “I lost one in September and I just tried everything in my power to not have the same thing happen again. I am grateful to overcome that. It had a crazy energy out here.”
“I would like to congratulate Billy. He put up an incredible performance. I haven’t played such a high quality match in such a long time. He did great, pushing me to my limits. I think matches like that are great for the sport.”
Great Britain secured a win in the mixed doubles bout as Olivia Nicholls and Neal Skupski beat Despina Papamichail and Stefanos Sakellaridis 6-2, 3-6, 10-4 (match tiebreak).
Greece will now face Switzerland in the quarter-finals as they strive to secure a semi-final spot at the event for the first time since 2023.