The United Cup quarterfinals in the Perth bracket are set, while host Australia, Belgium and Czechia clinched quarterfinal berths in the Sydney bracket on Tuesday, with one spot still to be determined.
In Perth on Wednesday, the United States (Group A winner) will face Greece (Group E winner) followed by Switzerland (Group C winner) taking on Argentina (top runner-up).
Poland can win Group F and advance to the final eight with a victory Wednesday against the Netherlands in Sydney.
In Tuesday’s action, Australia topped Group D with a 2-1 victory against Czechia. After Barbora Krejcikova defeated Maya Joint in straight sets, Alex de Minaur leveled things with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Jakub Mensik. Storm Hunter and de Minaur decided it with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Miriam Skoch and Dalibor Svrcina.
Krejcikova’s singles win helped Czechia advance as the best runner-up from the groups in Sydney.
Belgium swept Canada to advance, with Zizou Bergs beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 and Elise Mertens earning a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Victoria Mboko. The Belgians then teamed up for a 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 win against Mboko and Cleeve Harper to finish atop Group B.
Brisbane International
Brandon Nakashima knocked out No. 2 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the opening round in Australia.
Nakashima hammered 15 aces and won 85% of the points (33 of 39) on his first serve, while his foe finished with twice as many unforced errors (28) as the American (14). Nakashima’s next opponent is France’s Quentin Halys.
France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard kept the upset theme going with a 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (6) defeat of No. 4 Tommy Paul, and Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon dispatched No. 5 Denis Shapovalov of Canada 6-4, 6-2. No. 7 Cameron Norrie of England rallied for a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 defeat of Frenchman Ugo Humberg. Also advancing were Australia’s Rinky Hijikata, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who took out home favorite Nick Kyrgios in straight sets.
Hong Kong Tennis Open
No. 5 seed Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, No. 6 Gabriel Diallo of Canada and No. 7 Alexandre Muller of France all advanced to the second round with straight-sets victories.
Sonego beat Japan’s Rei Sakamoto 6-2, 7-6 (4); Diallo defeated Dutchman Jesper de Jong 6-4, 7-6 (7); and Muller managed a 7-5, 6-4 win against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
In other first-round action, Marcos Giron needed only 60 minutes for a 6-2, 6-0 rout of Serbia’s Laslo Djere. Tomas Martin Etcheverry eliminated France’s Valentin Royer 6-4, 7-5. American qualifier Michael Mmoh was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. Chinese wild card Juncheng Shang delivered a 6-4, 6-4 win against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana and Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp held off Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
–Field Level Media
