Kazakhstan reached the quarter-finals of the United Cup mixed team tournament with a comfortable win over Greece on Monday as Elena Rybakina defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-3 after Alexander Shevchenko stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who is using the 18-nation tournament to prepare for next month’s Australian Open, edged a tight opening set against Sakkari before powering ahead 5-0 in the next
.
She was broken late on but stayed composed to close out the contest on serve, leaving her new coach Goran Ivanisevic beaming in the dugout.
“We’ve just been working a couple weeks together. This is our first official tournament,” Rybakina said.
“We’re still getting to know each other a bit. He’s a fun guy. He gives some experience from when he played and also as a coach. I’m just happy to work with him.
“Hopefully we’ll have some good results together.”
Shevchenko pulled off a major upset earlier when he downed an ill and error-prone world number 11 Tsitsipas 6-4 7-6(0) to put Kazakhstan on course for victory in the Group C tie in Perth.
“It will definitely go in my record as one of my best wins,” Shevchenko said.
“He wasn’t at his best today but still I played really well and I found the moments to win the match.”
