Stefanos Tsitsipas sent the United Cup quarterfinal between Greece and the United States to a deciding mixed doubles in Perth after a statement victory over World No. 9 Taylor Fritz on Wednesday.
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Claiming his first Top 10 win in more than 18 months, the 27-year-old former World No. 3 rode a serving masterclass to a 6-4, 7-5 win, leveling the tie after Coco Gauff’s earlier win over Maria Sakkari.
“I was fighting for the team, and it was such a great match from my end,” a delighted Tsitsipas said. “It’s pretty straight forward when you are 0-1 down; I was aware of the level I needed to bring onto the court today. I felt I owed it to my team.
“Before I went to bed last night, I was already visualizing how the match was going to go. I was already playing it in my mind and I’m so happy to win exactly the way I planned. I was especially pleased with my serve and how I dealt with the pressure moments with a clear head.”
Putting 84% of first serves into play in the opening set pushed Tsitsipas into an aggressive mindset. He fired an ace to fight off a set point at 4-5 in the second set and broke Fritz in the following game to set himself up to serve out the match.
Tsitsipas improved to 9-2 at the United Cup in singles. It was his first Top 10 victory since defeating No. 5 Alexander Zverev, No. 2 Jannik Sinner and No. 10 Casper Ruud on his way to winning the 2024 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title.
But the vintage performance by Tsitsipas wasn’t the only example of a top player showing their worth on the biggest stage Wednesday.
In fact, when Gauff is at her best, it’s not far-fetched to say the American puts the star in “stars and stripes.”
So, it came as no surprise that in a moment as big as Wednesday’s United Cup quarterfinal tie pitting the United States against Greece, Gauff delivered. The World No. 4 defeated Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 26 minutes at RAC Arena, giving the United States a pivotal 1-0 lead ahead of the blockbuster between Fritz and Tsitsipas.
What made the performance even more impressive was that Gauff was coming off one of her rougher outings in recent memory, particularly on serve.
Those issues were nowhere to be found under the sunny Perth skies, as the 21-year-old led wire-to-wire.
“Definitely a much better match today,” Gauff said in her on-court interview. “Last match, I just tried to erase it. That’s the beauty of this tournament and having a team like Taylor [Fritz] and Christian [Harrison] that gave me the chance to stay in the tournament and be able to prove myself better today. So definitely happy to give my team the lead today.”
Gauff posted much-improved numbers from the service line, landing 68% of her first serves while winning 76% of those points. After hitting 14 double faults just two days earlier, she cut that total to six against Sakkari en route to her 245th career WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz victory.
For Sakkari, the match was a step back in what has otherwise been a promising week, highlighted by wins over Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu. While the season is only just beginning, 2026 looms large for the 30-year-old. A former Top 5 player, Sakkari enters the year at No. 52 in the PIF WTA Rankings.
The win marks Gauff’s third straight over Sakkari and gives her a 6-5 edge in their head-to-head.
