Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas held firm in a tense mixed doubles decider against Borna Gojo and Petra Martic in Perth on Wednesday night to clinch team Greece a spot at the United Cup Finals in Sydney.
The pair’s 7-6(6), 6-4 win sealed Greece a 3-2 win in the Perth City Final after a day of drama that saw the four singles matches split.
“I am so happy and proud of this team, I just cannot put it in words,” said Sakkari. “Coming in here, it’s the first tournament of the year, you don’t know what kind of form you are in, but I think we saw that we are in pretty good form!”
“I’m happy we pulled this through,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m proud of the team. Fighters is what defines us. That first big step we took here in Perth is going to remain memorable. I’m happy we started in Perth, I wished for it…Let me just say, we might be in Sydney, but our heart remains here.”
🇬🇷 HELLAS 🇬🇷@mariasakkari and @steftsitsipas take out Martic & Gojo 7-6 6-4 to advance to the #UnitedCup semifinals 🔥 pic.twitter.com/uKEIBOgEl9
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 4, 2023
The WTA No. 6 Sakkari and ATP No. 4 Tsitsipas were both dialed in on serve throughout their 94-minute victory, winning 88 percent (42/48) of points behind first serves, facing no break points and sending down eight aces.
It was Sakkari and Tsitsipas’ third mixed doubles victory of the week in Perth, where the pair also played together at the 2019 Hopman Cup.
BeReal game strong 💪 #UnitedCup | @mariasakkari | @steftsitsipas pic.twitter.com/RAUeZKv1rH
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 4, 2023
Team Greece in the first edition of the United Cup
Team Greece will next take on the team of Italy in the semi-finals on Friday and Saturday in Sydney, where the Polish and USA teams will contest the other final-four tie.
The 2023 United Cup is the first edition of the United Cup, an international outdoor hard court mixed-gender team tennis tournament held by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Serving as the opener for the 2023 ATP Tour and the 2023 WTA Tour, it is being held from December 29, 2022 to January 8, 2023 at three venues in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney.
It is also the first mixed-gender team event to offer both ATP rankings and WTA rankings points to its players. A player is able to win a maximum of five hundred points.
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