Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas came back from a set down to avoid a shock mixed doubles and Greece managed to complete their comeback win over Spain.
On Saturday, the top-ranked Greek female tennis star suffered a shock defeat to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-2 6-1 in the opening match of the tie.
Fortunately for Greece, Tsitsipas was able to force a deciding match by beating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 4-6 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas© United Cup/X – Fair Use
Then, Sakkari and the ATP world No. 11 teamed up in mixed doubles and overcame Ivonne Cavalle-Reimers and Sergio Martos Gomes 4-6 6-3 10-6.
Going into the tie, the Greeks were the big favorites to win.
In the end, they managed to do so but after some major drama.
Now, they have a 1-0 record in Perth and will battle against Kazakhstan on Monday – the Kazakhs also have a 1-0 record since they beat Spain on Thursday – so it will be a direct meeting for the top spot in Group C.
How Sakkari and Tsitsipas came back to win their mixed doubles match?
In the seventh game, Cavalle-Reimers and Martos Gomes earned the first break of the match and then also saved two break points in the following game for a 5-3 lead before closing out the opener in the 10th game.
Down by a set, the Greek pair missed out on four break points in the second game of the second set.
However, they didn’t panic and got their first break of the match two games later to open a 3-1 lead – that one break of serve was enough for the Greek stars to force a third set.
After clinching the second set, Sakkari and Tsitsipas also won the match tie-break with two mini-series – they first won three points in a row for a 5-2 lead before going on another three-point winning series from 7-6 to complete their comeback win.
Tennis World USA