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When the World No. 803 Stefanos Sakellaridis arrived in Perth as part of Team Greece for the inaugural United Cup, the 18-year-old needed some time to adjust to his surroundings.

“It was the first time in my life this week seeing a Top 100 player in front of me, actually,” Sakellaridis, who competes regularly on the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour, told ATPTour.com in Perth. “When everyone was coming by, like [David] Goffin, [Grigor] Dimitrov, I was like, ‘Oh, wow’.”

On Tuesday, an injury to his teammate Michail Pervolarakis meant Sakellaridis was called upon to make his tour-level debut against Team Belgium’s Zizou Bergs. Taking on the World No. 129 in front of the biggest crowd of his career could have overwhelmed a player who had never played a match on the ATP Challenger Tour, but Sakellaridis battled to a stunning 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 win.

What a win!

Greek teen Stefanos Sakellaridis has just scored the biggest win of his young career, leading to emotional scenes in Perth#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/6pZtnsMSf1

The result triggered huge outbursts of emotion from his teammates, including Top 10 stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari as well as his sister Sapfo Sakellaridi. Sakellaridis acknowledged that the positive atmosphere in the Team Greece camp this week played a key role in believing he could step up his level when required.

“You can see that the team chemistry is unbelievable, so it’s a huge boost for every one of us to play much better,” said Sakellaridis. “When you feel good, you play good.”

The Brisbane United Cup press conference room was a classroom on Tuesday, and Italian Matteo Berrettini was the professor.

A group of 14 local Australian junior players sat in on Team Italy’s press conference following the country’s tie victory against Norway. When asked what advice the World No. 16 Berrettini would give them, the 26-year-old went into deep thought.

“I think I was really lucky because I met this guy when I was 14,” Berrettini said of his coach and Team Italy captain Vincenzo Santopadre. “I’m always joking around, but, I mean, I have to thank him. I never thank him enough for what we did together.”

Berrettini explained that what he has learned over the years is the importance of enjoying what he is doing as a professional tennis player, through the highs and the lows.

“Obviously it gets tougher and tougher. At the beginning everything is new, so you play the first Slam, you play the first big tournament, then the pressure is coming,” Berrettini said. “You learn as a person, you learn as a player, and you try to kind of learn from what is happening. I'm going to stop talking now.”

WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia delivered the goods under pressure on Tuesday, when she defeated Petra Martic 7-6(9), 6-4 in a must-win United Cup rubber to keep France's hopes of advancing to the Perth City Finals alive.

Croatia had led 2-0 overnight after wins for Donna Vekic and Borna Coric, but Garcia came into her clash with Martic with a promising 4-1 head-to-head record. The WTA Finals champion backed that up, extending it to 5-1 as she denied Martic the chance to clinch for her team.

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Fittingly for a contest between two of the best servers on Tour, the first set went down to the wire and was decided by the thinnest of margins. Through the first 12 games, it was Martic who carved out more chances on return, deploying her sliced backhand to fine effect — including on one lofted lob that left Garcia flailing.

Garcia needed her finest serves to save break points in the first and ninth games; by contrast, despite serving second, Martic conceded only four points behind her delivery through the first 12 games.

Hubert Hurkacz earned a critical win for Team Poland on Tuesday evening against Team Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, putting his country one victory from the Brisbane City Final.

Hurkacz battled through a tense clash against the former World No. 3 7-6(5), 6-4 to give Poland a 2-1 advantage. Magda Linette will now try to close out the tie in the No. 2 women’s singles match against Jil Teichmann. If Teichmann wins, the mixed doubles match will decide the tie.

“Never had a chance before to play against Stan, so I was really looking forward for that match. He’s such a legend of the sport. I was watching him win the Grand Slams and now I can share the court with him, so that was a huge pleasure for me,” Hurkacz said. “Definitely a very big match. Obviously very happy to get a point for Team Poland, so I was really excited about it. It was a big point for us and we’ll keep fighting.” 

The stakes were high for Hurkacz and Wawrinka, with both players knowing the edge in Group B was hanging in the balance. Switzerland playing captain battled hard and the margins were fine, but World No. 10 Hurkacz found his best in the critical moments to triumph after one hour and 39 minutes.

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One of the most dynamic duos in the United Cup is Team Poland’s Iga Swiatek, the WTA World No. 1, and Hubert Hurkacz. What would they take from one another’s games to improve even more?

“Ability to win a lot,” Hurkacz revealed, cracking a laugh.

The 25-year-old expanded on his answer: “Definitely Iga’s forehand is really big and the mental strength, it’s also pretty solid. And being able also to handle all the pressure and winning in such a way is really, really impressive.”

Swiatek said she would like to take Hurkacz’s serve and volleys. Want to know what else the Polish stars spoke about? Watch the full United Cup Relationship feature.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro stepped in for an injured Paula Badosa and delivered a win for Spain. Ranked No. 193 and making her WTA main draw debut, the 20-year-old defeated Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2 to give Spain a 2-1 lead over Australia at the United Cup.

Albert Ramos Vinolas will face Australia's Jason Kubler in the final singles match of the tie. With Great Britain already confirmed as the winner of Group D, neither Spain or Australia will advance out of the group stage.

Spain's WTA No. 1 Badosa was ruled out of the match due to shoulder injury, giving Bouzas Maneiro a fantastic opportunity to earn her first WTA win. Gadecki, ranked No. 202, was also a late call-up, replacing an injured Zoe Hives.

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The match pitted two relatively inexperienced 20-year-olds against each other for pride and ranking points. The closest Bouzas Maneiro had previously come to the main tour was three failed qualifying campaigns, twice in Madrid and once in Tenerife.

Italy is through to the Brisbane City Final at the United Cup after Matteo Berrettini guaranteed his country’s place atop Group E on Tuesday morning.

Berrettini won a heavyweight clash against World No. 3 Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to clinch Italy’s tie victory against Norway, earning an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Italy will face Poland or Switzerland in the City Final on Wednesday.

"The goal is to have the longest run possible. It's super nice to play with my teammates. We know each other since a really young age. It's crazy and now we're representing Italy. It's such an honour for us," Berrettini said. "The other day at dinner we were talking about when we were 12 playing against each other. It's super nice and I'm really happy. It's the first time obviously playing with the girls and I think it's special, different, maybe a little bit more stressful. But we're enjoying [it] a lot."

In 2022, Ruud defeated Berrettini in the Gstaad final and the US Open quarter-finals, claiming five consecutive sets against the Italian. But the big-serving Rome-native came out firing inside Pat Rafter Arena and powered past the Norwegian after one hour and 26 minutes.

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Maria Sakkari sealed a Perth City Finals place for Greece at the United Cup on Tuesday morning with a 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Elise Mertens in one hour and 23 minutes.

Greece required only two points from the final tie of Group A to advance, and Sakkari's win backed up compatriot Stefanos Tsitsipas' defeat of David Goffin on the previous day.

Sakkari and Mertens brought one of the longest-standing rivalries of the competition into this pivotal match. The two 1995-born peers have been squaring off since their days in ITF 10Ks back in 2014, and this was the 10th time they had met in pro action.

It's a head-to-head that has been swinging Sakkari's way in recent years, and the WTA No.6 underlined that with her most straightforward scoreline of the series so far — the first time that she has required neither a third set nor a tiebreak to defeat Mertens. The result is Sakkari's third win in a row over the Belgian and extends her overall lead to 6-4.

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Novak Djokovic is up and running in 2023.

Competing in his first singles match of the season Tuesday, the Serbian quickly found his range to overcome Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2 and reach the second round at the Adelaide International 1.

"For the first match I can't complain," Djokovic said. "I played very well. I thought the first six games were very competitive and I have never faced him before. He is a counterpuncher, he doesn't make too many mistakes. He has a tricky serve, hits his spots. But once I made that break at 3-2 in the first set I thought I stepped it up and played really good tennis for the rest of the match."

With a packed crowd watching on, Djokovic moved through the gears, striking his watertight groundstrokes with consistent depth and accuracy to take early control.

The 35-year-old was also strong on return, winning 44 per cent (17/39) of points on his opponent’s first serve to triumph after 75 minutes in his first ATP Head2Head meeting against World No. 65 Lestienne.

Daniil Medvedev didn’t need to wait long for a confidence-boosting match to kickstart his 2023 season.

The former World No. 1, who ended 2022 on a four-match losing streak, saved nine set points in the first set against Lorenzo Sonego and had recovered an early break in the second when the Italian retired from the match with leg cramps.

“It was crazy. It’s probably the first time I’ve saved nine set points in my life,” said Medvedev, who was leading 7-6(6), 2-1 when the match ended. “What a match to start the year! It was unfortunate for everyone that it had to finish early and I wish Lorenzo a speedy recovery.”

Late in the 81-minute opening set, Medvedev found himself in a world of hurt, first saving six set points at 4-5 after earlier holding a 40/0 lead. In his next service game Medvedev was the one who had to rally, clawing back from 0/40 before forcing a tie-break.

Sonego took the fight to Medvedev, consistently crushing forehands and making several forays to the net to exploit Medvedev’s deep-court position. But the full-frontal attack may have taken its toll. Sonego received treatment on his right arm at the end of the first set and soon after retired with leg cramps.

World No. 3 Jessica Pegula tallied her first win of the season with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany's Laura Siegemund on Day 6 of the United Cup. After wins from Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys on Day 5, Pegula's dominant victory delivered the Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Germany.

Having defeated the Czech Republic in their opening tie, the USA will finish Group C undefeated and advance to the City Finals where it will face Great Britain.

Tuesday's victory was a meaningful one for Pegula in more ways than one. The win was her first singles win since capturing the biggest title of her career the Guadalajara Akron Open in October, snapping a four-match losing streak that began at the WTA Finals.

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Coming off a hotly-contested 7-6(6), 6-4 loss to Petra Kvitova in her first match of the season, Pegula put in a comprehensive and dominant baseline performance to defeat Siegemund. The German struggled to gain any traction in Pegula's quick service games, with Pegula winning 75 per cent if her first-serve points and 79 per cent of her second-serve points. The American lost just 10 points on her serve.

While he will not leave the inaugural United Cup with a title for Team Spain, Rafael Nadal can take away the experience of two titanic tussles in Sydney as he looks to recapture his top form. The 36-year-old lost a pair of three-setters at the United Cup, to Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur, as Spain were eliminated from the mixed-gender event in the group stage.

It's a very different start to the season compared to 2022, when Nadal won a personal-best 20 straight matches to open the year, including two titles Down Under at the Melbourne Summer Set and the Australian Open. But despite his 0-2 record, Nadal was happy to compete for nearly six hours across the contests, both of which he lost from a set up.

"I need hours on court. I need battles like this," he said in a post-match press conference. "I didn't play many official matches the last six months, almost seven.

"Days like these two help. Of course with victories the process is faster, but I need to keep fighting. That's it. For moments I played very good level of tennis. Playing very good with the backhand. Changing directions with the forehand."

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While he rued missed chances and "important mistakes" against Australia's De Minaur, Nadal still found plenty of positives from his United Cup experience — not least the unique opportunity to play alongside some of the WTA's best, including teammate Paula Badosa

Ask a rising tennis star about another player who inspired their professional pathway, and there's almost certainly a compatriot in the mix. But few get the opportunity to spend an extended period with their heroes, as some grateful competitors have done at the United Cup this week.

For Great Britain’s Harriet Dart and Katie Swan, it was an experience that in fact began in the weeks before the United Cup. Ahead of their travel to Sydney, the Team GB captain spent more than five days training with Dart and Swan in London, and the benefits were clear as the team overcame Australia and Spain to progress to the City Final.

“I mean, Tim’s obviously had an amazing career himself. Someone that all of us, I think, looked up to when we were younger, and what's been so good about him is that he's just really taken time to get to know each of us individually,” related Swan.

The positive energy flowing from Great Britain’s Team Zone has translated to match wins. Swan made a perfect start to her 2023 season with a straight-sets victory over Australia’s Zoe Hives and an upset the higher-ranked Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz.

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Fans are used to seeing Stan Wawrinka in the spotlight. Years of bludgeoning one-handed backhands and lifting trophies on tennis’ biggest stages will do that.

But this week the 37-year-old has shown fans a different side. ‘Stan The Man’ has evolved into ‘Captain Stan’ as Switzerland’s playing captain in Brisbane at the inaugural United Cup.

“He seems really strict,” team member Jil Teichmann said on Media Day, cracking a laugh. “Like, picky.”

It did not take long for the three-time major winner to lay down the law.

“I'm enjoying being really strict against someone who was late today,” Wawrinka said as the team erupted into laughter. “We are sorry, it was Belinda [Bencic]. It's going to be the last time we're going to be late!”

A year ago, Matteo Berrettini reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open — losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal — and seemed headed for another sensational season when the hand of fate intervened.

Actually, it was the Italian’s right hand that underwent surgery after Indian Wells. Berrettini was sidelined for three months and never regained the form that lifted him to a career-high No. 6 Pepperstone ATP Ranking.

On Tuesday, Berrettini will know exactly where he stands when he faces World No. 3 Casper Ruud. Berrettini is looking to help Italy capture Group E with a victory over Norway. Italy leads 2-0 after wins from Lorenzo Musetti and Martina Trevisan on Monday.

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The Italian team is loaded with talent, particularly on the men’s side. Vincenzo Santopadre, Berrettini’s coach of nearly a dozen years, is the team captain.

Filip Krajinovic made a winning start to his 2023 season Monday at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, but not before the sixth-seeded Serbian was given a mighty scare by home favourite Sumit Nagal.

After Krajinovic took the opening set of the pair’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting, Nagal converted his first break point of the match in the 10th game of the second set to draw level in the first-round clash at the ATP 250 event in India. It was Krajinovic who found something extra to break at the tailend of the deciding set, however, as he completed a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.

There was no dream victory for Nagal's 15-year-old countryman Manas Dhamne on his ATP Tour debut, but the #NextGenATP talent still produced some moments of magic for the home fans in his first-round clash against American Michael Mmoh.

Dhamne, who only turned 15 on 29 December, is currently No. 80 in the ITF Junior Rankings, and highlights of his tour-level debut included breaking the World No. 113 Mmoh to love in the second set. The American held firm to complete a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the young wild card, however, and he will face Krajinovic next.

There were a pair of first-round upsets on Monday in western India as Laslo Djere and Tallon Griekspoor both dismissed seeded opponents in straight sets. Djere fired 12 aces en route to his 6-2, 6-4 victory against fifth seed Alex Molcan, and the Serbian will next face Elias Ymer or Maximilian Marterer.

Donna Vekic scored her second straight-sets United Cup win in as many matches, defeating Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-3 to give Croatia an early lead on France in the last Group F tie in Perth.

It was Vekic's second win in a row against the Frenchwoman on Australian soil: the pair had notched one win apiece against each other, but their most recent encounter had gone to Vekic 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the 2020 Australian Open.

The straightforward scoreline belied the tightness of the contest, a classic stylistic contrast between power and defence that saw the pair repeatedly embroiled in multi-deuce tussles. Teeing off with her forehand at every opportunity, Vekic landed 34 winners compared to Cornet's 13 -- but the latter was not as watertight as she could have been, also committing 20 unforced errors.

The key to Vekic's win was the 22-year-old's resilience in coming through the most difficult moments of the match. She chased down a Cornet dropshot to seize the first break of the match for 2-1, then fended off two break points to consolidate her lead.

Up a double break at 4-1, Vekic had to fend off a valiant comeback attempt from Cornet, who held four break points to level at 4-4. But Vekic navigated through seven deuces for a crucial hold and went on to close out the set as Cornet sent a backhand long.

World No.1 Iga Swiatek powered past World No. 12 Belinda Bencic to give Poland an early 1-0 lead over Switzerland, winning 6-3, 7-6(3) at the United Cup in Brisbane. But Marc-Andrea Huesler quickly struck back to level the tie at 1-1.

After the lefty's 6-3, 6-2 victory against Daniel Michalski in the No. 2 men's singles match, the tie moved to Tuesday with all to play for. The winner of the tie will advance to the City Finals to face either Italy or Brazil out of Group E. 

Coming off a 6-1, 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva, Swiatek once again unleashed her baseline dominance to earn her second career win over Bencic. The Pole came out with a clear eye towards holding her position on the baseline and dominating with her forehand and court coverage, and the 21-year-old executed her plan to near-perfection.

"I'm a perfectionist but I'm really happy with my performance today because Belinda is playing really fast, taking the ball really early, so it's a totally different rhythm," Swiatek said. "On this fast surface it's really, really hard."

Swiatek earned her first break of the match in the fourth game to earn a 3-1 lead, but Bencic quickly adjusted her return position to get the break back three games later. But the most dominant returner in the women's game proved her worth immediately, breaking Bencic to 5-3 and holding serve to close out an entertaining 41-minute set.

Alex de Minaur delivered a stunning performance under the lights in Sydney Monday when he overcame World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to give Team Australia a 1-0 lead against Team Spain in Group D at the United Cup.

With a capacity crowd watching on, the 23-year-old rallied from a set-and-a-break down to earn the biggest win of his career by Pepperstone ATP Ranking after two hours and 44 minutes.

In a thrilling encounter, De Minaur showed an abundance of grit and quality to delight his raucous home supporters. The World No. 24 scampered around the baseline to hang in rallies, shortening his backswing off his groundstrokes to take away time from Nadal and turn the tables. With his statement victory, the 23-year-old improved to 1-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Nadal.

De Minaur, who lost against Briton Cameron Norrie in his opening match of the season, has now earned eight Top 10 wins in his career.

Nadal, who also fell to Norrie at the mixed-teams event, tasted success on Australian soil last year, winning an ATP 250 title in Melbourne before he lifted his second Australian Open trophy. However, he is still searching for his first win of the new season.

Stefanos Tsitsipas stepped up at a crucial moment at the United Cup on Monday in Perth, where the ATP World No. 4 downed David Goffin 6-3, 6-2 to draw Team Greece level with Team Belgium in a decisive Group A clash.

Despite struggling to find his best level early in his first tour-level meeting with Goffin since 2019, the Greek accelerated away in the second set as some precise serving and clean groundstrokes carried him to an ultimately comfortable 78-minute victory.

“I enjoyed it out there, it was really nice,” said Tsitsipas after the match. “I was able to play some of my best tennis towards the end, being consistent with serve and return.

“I had a bit of difficulty getting the rhythm on my serve at the very beginning of the match, but I figured it out throughout the match and managed to save some of the break points with some good serves.”

Team Greece now requires just one win from the three remaining matches in the tie. They will hope WTA No. 6 Maria Sakkari can get the job done early in the first match scheduled for Tuesday in Perth, where she takes on Team Belgium’s WTA No. 29 Elise Mertens.