Switzerland upsets France in United Cup

SYDNEY — Former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic sparkled on her return to the elite circuit after her maternity break, leading Switzerland to a 2-1 win over France in the United Cup mixed team tournament.

The 27-year-old beat Chloe Paquet 6-3 6-1 in her first WTA Tour level match since giving birth to daughter Bella in April. She later combined with Dominic Stricker to down the pair of Elixane Lechemia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1 7-6(4).

“The whole comeback went much faster than I anticipated and expected. It’s great,” said Bencic, who first returned to action in October and played in the Billie Jean King Cup, apart from lower level tournaments.

“I didn’t rush things. I was super careful with starting again. I didn’t really want to put time pressure on my comeback. I just wanted to see how it goes every day,” Bencic added according to Reuters.

Spain, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 in group play at the United Cup in Perth, Australia, and was eliminated from the mixed-team competition.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-1 to give Spain a 1-0 lead, but Stefanos Tsitsipas evened the score with his 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Pablo Carreno Busta in Group C play.

That sent the match pitting 14th-seeded Spain and third-seeded Greece to a mixed-doubles, winner-take-all match, with the Greek duo prevailing over Sergio Martos Gornes and Yvonne Cavalle Reimers 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. Spain lost to Kazakhstan on the first day of the tournament, in which 18 teams are divided into six three-country groups.

Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz is not playing in the event amid preparations for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 12.

Ugo Humbert had earlier pulled France level at 1-1 with a 6-3 7-5 win over Stricker in the Group D contest, battling back from 2-5 down in the second set to prevail and force a mixed doubles rubber at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

Canada was also victorious in Group A of the 10 million tournament that features 18 countries, as they defeated Croatia 2-1 in Perth’s RAC Arena.

Former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez overcame Donna Vekic 6-4 6-3 before Felix Auger-Aliassime crashed to a 0-6 6-4 6-4 defeat by Borna Coric.

Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime then saw off Lucija Ciric Bagaric and Ivan Dodig 6-3 6-4 to clinch the tie.

Elena Rybakina guided Kazakhstan to a 2-1 victory against Spain in her United Cup debut at the RAC Arena in Perth, and Gao Xinyu stunned Beatriz Haddad Maia in China’s victory over Brazil.

World number six Rybakina defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-2 6-3 in the singles and then combined with Alexander Shevchenko to clinch the deciding mixed doubles.

Kazakhstan can qualify for the quarter-finals of the 18-nation mixed teams event by beating Greece in their second Group C match on Monday.

Former world number 10 Pablo Carreno Busta swept aside Shevchenko 6-2 6-1 in little over an hour to put Spain ahead before Rybakina, playing her first match since hiring Goran Ivanisevic as coach for the season, pulled Kazakhstan level.

The 25-year-old raced to a 4-0 lead before Bouzas Maneiro could put up some sort of resistance winning the next two games. Rybakina soon asserted herself again and broke her opponent at love to take the opening set.

The Kazakh fired a series of backhand winners for a similar 4-2 lead in the second set and Bouzas Maneiro held three break points at 5-3 before Rybakina’s power game prevailed.

“The first match is always difficult,” former Wimbledon champion Rybakina said.

“It’s not easy to get used that quick but I’m pretty happy with the way I played today.”

She was soon back on court alongside Shevchenko to score a 7-6(4) 6-7(2) 10-7 win against Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers and Carreno Busta.

“If ‘Lena’ wasn’t carrying me this match we would lose … Thanks to her,” Shevchenko said.

The second session saw China’s Gao overcome cramps and injury to beat Brazilian world no. 17 Haddad Maia 5-7 6-4 7-5 in a battle that lasted three hours and 22 minutes, the longest WTA singles match in the history of the United Cup.

“I have no idea what’s going on right now. My brain was empty and my whole body was cramping,” world no. 175 Gao, who replaced Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen in the competition, said after beating the US Open quarter-finalist.

Zhang Zhizhen then eased past Thiago Monteiro 6-3 6-0 in the men’s singles match as China built an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Group E clash, ensuring victory ahead of the mixed doubles.