PERTH, Australia — Kazakhstan has advanced to the United Cup mixed teams tennis tournament semifinals with a 2-1 win over a German team playing without injured world No. 2 Alexander Zverev.
Zverev was a late scratch for Germany on Wednesday due to a biceps injury. He was scheduled to face Alexander Shevchenko but withdrew at the last minute with Kazakhstan leading the tie 1-0 after Elena Rybakina beat Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-1.
Shevchenko beat Zverev’s replacement, Daniel Masur, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the tie for Kazakhstan while Zverev watched from the sideline. Germany won the later mixed doubles.
Shevchenko took a medical timeout due to heat exhaustion while leading 1-0 in the second set. He came back from the break to dominate the rest of the match.
“It was a heat problem, for sure,” Shevchenko said. “I had a bit of a headache. My head was spinning. It was a struggle this match. To play in this heat was so tough.”
The United States played China on Wednesday night in the second quarterfinal in Perth. Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz led the U.S. into the quarterfinals with a win in their final round-robin match Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Gauff was scheduled to play Gao Xinyu, Fritz was to play Zhang Zhizhen, and in the mixed doubles, Gauff and Fritz were to take on Zhang Shuai and Sun Fajing.
In Sydney, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz won their deciding mixed doubles match over the Czech Republic to qualify Poland for the quarterfinals.
World No. 2 Swiatek and Hurkacz beat Tomáš Macháč and Karolina Muchova 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the decider at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena. The Polish team led 5-2 before allowing the Czechs back into the first set.
In earlier singles, Macháč gave the Czech Republic the lead with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Hurkacz before Swiatek evened the tie with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Muchová.
Later Wednesday in Sydney, Katie Boulter‘s 6-2, 6-1 win over Olivia Gadecki of Australia helped Britain clinch a quarterfinal place. Boulter went into the match knowing that a straight-sets victory would ensure Britain’s progress to the last eight as Group F winner.
“I’ve been trying to avoid all the stats … but we were at dinner with [former British No.1 Laura Robson] last night, and she thankfully told me I had to win in straight sets,” Boulter said.
Alex de Minaur then drew hosts Australia level with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Billy Harris in the second singles.
In the mixed doubles, Boulter was scheduled to play but not de Minaur. The two players are engaged to be married.
In Sydney, Italy earlier won Group D to qualify for the quarterfinals. Winners of the past two Davis Cups and runners-up two years ago to the U.S. in the inaugural edition of the season-opening mixed teams event, Italy won its group without world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
All tournament play shifts to Sydney from Thursday through Sunday’s final.
This content is shared under the principles of Fair Use for news reporting, commentary, and educational purposes. All credit and rights go to the original author and source. If you are the content owner and would like this article removed, please contact us.
To advertise your business on PortCityNews.com – go to https://www.portcitynews.com/advertise
